#maybe i should add other media that i can write crossovers for ... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luxaofhesperides · 3 months

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Listen. I love the dcxdp crossover. It’s a lot of fun! There’s so much that can be done for this crossover, with all the characters and settings and the many plots that can spring up from them. But as much as I love writing for it and sharing my fics with the community, there’s been a significant uptick in things that are rubbing me the wrong way. Some of these things have to do with canon vs fanon, but others are more about the shifting culture of the community.

(keep in mind that I only see things on Tumblr and am not in any discords, so my experience will be different from others bc I have a more limited experience with the wider community)

(putting it all under a read more bc its long)

Let’s start off with a look at what we’re doing as a group:

Building off of completed fics on tumblr: I always thought the etiquette is to not build off of a completed work without permission. Someone had an idea and executed it, then shared it with us. It should end there. If you want to add to it, contact the author first and see if it’s something they’re fine with; some will say no, some will say yes, some will say yes but be sure to credit them for the original fic. A lot of what I’m seeing is a completed fic gets added on to in a way that completely takes it away from the original idea. Having experienced this myself (on a requested prompt from someone else, no less), I found it kind of rude. Maybe it’s just me, but a completed fic is not a prompt request or something open for building up another story around. It’s already completed. Leave the story as is and let the author know you liked it.

Expecting others to write for you: the prompts are what build this crossover fandom, in my eyes. Prompts are posted and people create something around them, either as a group by adding onto what other people are saying, or as individual fics that one person wrote. Now I’m seeing people throw out prompts that are basically fic outlines, then begging others to write something for it. Like, those prompts are already written! They have very specific details! Why not write it yourself? You’re already halfway there, you can just write the thing you want to see and post it. It’s not about being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at writing, it’s about crafting an idea to share to the world. Why ask others to write it for you when you’ve already practically done it?

But also, you are not owed fic. This might just be general fandom burn out talking, but being a fic author who has been treated like a machine? It sucks. I love writing, but I share what I write because what I wrote made me happy and I wanted to share that with others. I’m not a content creating machine who has to pump out fic after fic for other people’s entertainment. I just want to share what I love and having people pop up in my notifs only going “write more/tag me/sequel?/etc” is tiring. I get that it’s coming from a place of love bc you liked the fic enough to want to see more, but please actually talk about what I’ve already written instead of going “update? More? MORE????”

Hostility to DC canon: I get that DC canon is a mess, but it still is a canon and has a lot of cool stuff! I’m seeing a lot of posts recently about how dpxdc people refuse to engage with the comics, and I need to let yall know that this is not a new thing. DC fans also refuse to engage with the comics (it’s mostly batfam) and it’s very easy to tell who has and who hasnt ready batfam related stuff bc the fanon is incredibly wrong about characterisation and what happened in comics. But that’s for a different post.

I’m seeing both sides of the argument (this is for fun, reading comics isn’t required, don’t like don’t read vs it’s tiring seeing people butcher my favorite characters into ocs with their name/face, I want to share my love for comics but there’s so much pushback, it shouldn’t be weird to expect people engaging with a media to have actually engaged with that media). And I think you should engage with comics! DP is a unique case in which fanon is for the most part better and more interesting than the original show (also death to the author/butch hartman), but DC comics shouldn’t be engaged with in that way. If you like the characters you see in dpxdc, you should read about them in comics! The whole point of a fandom is that you’re a fan of the original media. That’s why you’re engaging with it in this way, writing within the world and characters and canon.

I don’t know how people write for fandoms when they’re not familiar with the source material. I wanted to write dcxdp so I started rewatching DP. I’m reading comics. I want to know the characters and their stories so I can have a foundation to write from, and also to better understand the media so I can share my love for it. The refusal to engage with source material while engaging with its fandom is so strange to me.

Also dc fans who love the comics are great! In my experience, they’re very kind and willing to help you jump into comics! Don’t know where to start? Pick a character or team and follow them! Want a reading guide? We’ve got TONS. want thoughts on a specific character or comic run? Just ask!

Now to more specific points about what I’m seeing in dcxdp works:

Mischaracterized batfam: this is a group of people who are disasters and have complicated relationships with each other. They’re kind, wonderful people who bring out the best and worst in each other. Why is Batman always adopting people. Why is this a running joke with the batfam. I get it being a joke the first few times, but I’ve seen it so often and done like it’s accurate characterization that I just. I can’t. I leave that fic immediately. I can’t do it anymore. Batman is paranoid and tried very hard to keep kids away from him/away from being a vigilante. Unfortunately all the kids he got are stubborn and smart so he was doomed from the beginning.

Superman and Kon: you guys are pretty much only pulling from Young Justice Animated which I think is a terrible adaptation, but that’s my own taste. But seriously. Clark is kind. That’s an important part of his character! He’s the strongest man in the world and he’s kind. He was also dead when Kon first appeared as a experiment from CADMUS in Hawaii. They’re not father-son, but they are family and they do care for each other, once they get to know each other. Also Kon is not an angry broody boy, he’s funny! And annoying! pls read kon comics guys, i promise youll like his actual character

Chronos??? Guys. Chronos is not a god in DC canon. He is in Greek mythology, but in DC he’s a Captain Atom villain and he’s literally just a guy who got obsessed with having perfect timing. He’s themed around clocks. He has nothing to do with time travel or time gods. The Speedforce is Time, basically, and it is not human. It is an eldritch being beyond our comprehension that can eat people. If it chooses to have a human form, it’s going to choose to look like Bart. Please read Flash stuff, it’s interesting!

Lazarus Pit Madness lasts like 5 minutes in canon. Jason having it, and being affected by it for years, is a purely fanon thing from the dc side. Not going to say anything more on this because it goes into Jason Todd discourse.

Repetition: I’m sorry but I’m tired of seeing the same things over and over. I barely see anything out of the dcxdp tags thats new and fun to engage with. Everything is the same variation of “Danny helps Pit Mad Jason”, “Bruce insta-adopts Danny”, “Superman is mean to clones”, etc etc. Think of any popular dcxdp trope and that’s all you’ll see. I get why these are fun and popular, but the way it’s being engaged with now? It literally makes me exit Tumblr and put my phone down.

Not every prompt has to go down the same routes as the other prompts. Please explore more options, branch out, twist those tropes around to do something new with them. And also stop going onto other people’s fics and saying “what about [dcxdp trope]? Cant wait to see [dcxdp trope]! You should have [dcxdp] trope.” If I didn’t include it, it’s not included for a reason. There are hundreds of other fics that write specifically about those exact tropes. Read those, or write your own. (im being super bitter here but please just let me write what i want to write without trying to pull the story into another direction for a trope you like. Im writing for me, but sharing it for you. Not every fic needs those tropes in them.)

Tumblr specific things: this is less about the content and more about general posting etiquette. Please put long posts under a read more. If it’s more then three paragraphs, consider adding a read more if there is significantly MORE than three paragraphs. Tag appropriately. Content warnings and trigger warnings should be at the very top of the post and in the tags so they can be properly blocked. If you’re posting fic/prompt, please double check your spelling and fix any typos you find because posts that are filled with excessive typos are difficult to read.

There’s probably a lot more to talk about, but just getting this much out is tiring and, frankly, I don’t want to think on it any more today. If you reply/add comments, I won’t get to them in a while bc I will be writing ghostlights and yhk fic to lift my mood :)

#rambles #dpxdc #dc x dp #tentatively tagged for cataloging and blocking purposes #i will probably make more coherent posts later abt the individual things in here so if u want a discussion wait for those #just so its easy to keep track of what we're talking abt

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imaginesfordifferentfandoms · 3 years

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The Best Day

Click here for my masterlist.

Add yourself to my taglist.

MGG Taglist -

Prompt - ‘I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.’

Requested - @pumpkinfriend

Notes - This is my first time writing MGG so I apologise if it's OOC.

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Despite having never met your name and Matthew Gray Gubler’s name often went hand in hand together. It started when you said in an interview how much you admired the man and how big a fan you were of his latest work. That in turn led to Matthew being asked about you and him admitting he too was a fan of yours - that was the extent of the two of you mentioning each other in interviews though interviewers and fans alike did try their hardest to get you talking about one another.

The two of you, however, did give both your fanbases something - when you first started following each other on Instagram people found out pretty quickly, you still weren’t sure how they realised so fast. From there, there wasn’t much for a while but once Matthew liked the newest picture you had uploaded, social media went into a frenzy speculating what this meant - were you dating, how long had you been dating? You admittedly found it hilarious, one little like on a normal instagram post and two fan bases had gone crazy.

After that Matthew, himself, uploaded a post, again a normal post for him, just one of his drawings with a halloween theme to mark the beginning of October, and you liked it and left a comment - ‘now that is a ghost👻.’ And again, who knew one little thing could cause such an outburst? Matthew too, thankfully, thought his comment section was quite funny, the number of people convinced that your simple comment could mean a hundred and one other things.

From there on it had become a sort of unspoken joke as to who could cause the bigger frenzy. Without fail people took notice of every comment you two made but so far Matthew seemed to be winning with ‘Maybe we should get August onto Criminal Minds, I can see her and Spencer getting along very well;).’ He had commented on a picture of you dressed in the character of August who was your character on the show you were currently working on and that comment had caused the biggest commotion so far, speculations of crossovers and love interest began to fill people's feeds and timelines.

Though there had been a considerable amount of comments shared back and forth via the instagram comment section, neither of you had actually messaged the other privately yet. You had considered it a few times but you barely had two minutes to yourself with your current filming schedule being pushed forward.

Months passed and at some point the comments turned from friendly to flirty. You couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment things have turned but you did know that whenever you saw Matthew’s name pop up on your phone an involuntary smile made its way onto your face. You knew it was foolish, how could you possibly have feelings for this man considering you’d never actually met him? But you also couldn’t deny the butterflies you felt.

Matthew was feeling the same way, every notification that altered him to a new post or comment from you had him feeling more giddy than he would ever admit. He still declined to mention you in his interviews, skillfully skirting around the questions whilst trying not to let too much show on his face about his growing feelings for you.

Matthew was thankful to have some time off from filming and spent his first day of just relaxing. Thoughts of you continued to cross his mind and he picked his phone up multiple times before throwing it down in frustration. He really wanted to meet you, wanted to get to know you and see where things went. The months of back and forth weren’t enough for him anymore. He knew the two of you were in the same state, not too far from each other either as he recognised the backgrounds of quite a few of your posts.

With a sigh he sat down and grabbed his phone before opening a direct message with you. For a while he just stared at the blank page, pondering over how to start. He didn’t want to be too direct but he also wanted to get his intentions across as early as possible to give you time to decide whether he was what you wanted.

‘Hi, I’ve really enjoyed talking with you these last few months and wanted the chance to talk to you without thousands of other people reading our every word.’ He wrote and rewrote this one sentence four hundred times before deciding that sounded good enough. ‘I’d love to get to know you better, maybe we could hang out together soon?’ Was that too forward? Should he even mention meeting up with you so soon? Why was this so complicated?

Before he could overthink the message anymore he clicked send and tried to ignore the feeling of dread. He found himself constantly checking his phone, every time the screen lit up he himself lit up only to deflate when he didn’t see your name. I need to do something, he said as he stood up and moved over to the desk ready to lose himself in his art.

You sighed as you finished up your last day of filming, you loved what you did but you were thankful for the two or so months you had off. Filming a movie and then the series back to back had exhausted you. You grabbed your bag, not bothering to check your phone, before leaving the set and heading home.

Filming for your show was great though as you got to film it in your state meaning you didn’t need to worry about housing as you could stay in the comfort of your own home. You had greatly missed being home, spending over three months in Canada filming the movie.

Letting out a long exhale, you collapsed into bed after changing out of your clothes and shut your eyes for a minute before pulling your bag close and taking out your phone. You scrolled through the many notifications before pausing at one that caused a smile to spread across your face.

It was a dm from @gublergram.

With slight feelings of nervousness you clicked the notification before outright grinning at the message he had sent.

Taking a breath, you started typing out your reply.

‘Hey Matthew! I’ve really enjoyed talking to you too. Honestly I’m relieved you messaged me, as much fun as causing the internet to break down has been I did want to talk to you more privately. You caught me at the perfect time actually, I’ve just finished filming and have two months free, if you’re around we should definitely hang!’

That seemed casual enough, you thought as you sent the message and dragged yourself up to get ready for bed. By the time you’d finished your night time routine and were tucked up in bed there was a message waiting for you from Matthew.

‘Didn’t you just shoot a movie too? You must be excited for a break, I know I am and I’ve only shot one series! Who knew a few comments here and there could cause so much speculation? Perhaps, if you’re up for it, we could maybe meet up in a few weeks?’

A few weeks was both very soon and yet somehow still so far away. Nerves started creeping in but you tried to brush them aside. Matthew didn’t mean anything by it, surely? Yeah, you’d traded flirty comments here and there but there was no way Matthew could be interested in you…right?

‘Beyond excited! No spoilers, I’m still catching up 😂 For real, did you see the theory about us getting married in Vegas because we were both there around the same time a year ago? These fans are crazy but I think it’s hilarious. I’m totally up for meeting up, I know October’s your month so I’ll leave the plans to you.’

It was like the tiredness that you felt earlier had just disappeared, you and Matthew stayed up til well after midnight talking back and forth. He assured you he had something in mind for when you guys met but he refused to tell you what it was. You found yourself eagerly awaiting the day you’d meet.

Everything about this man was intriguing to you, the way he was so unapologetically himself was something you greatly admired about him. It was easy to start falling for him, how could a person not? As you got to know him more over the course of the next few weeks you found yourself liking him more and more. The way he always brought a smile to your face, the way the conversation flowed like you’d known each other forever. Everything was amazing and to think you hadn’t even met each other yet.

You continued to send messages to each other, getting to know more about his life and him yours. You were thankful you didn’t have work for the foreseeable future as the two of you often stayed up late talking to one another. The conversations covered many different topics, sometimes you sent him screenshots of new theories flying about regarding the two of you, he sent you pictures of his drawings, talking to him came naturally.

Eventually the day arrived in late October. Matthew had assured you that dressing casually was just fine and you found yourself applying some makeup with nervous bubbling below the surface. They were good nerves though, it wasn’t like you didn’t want this but more the fact you couldn’t really believe it was happening. You’d been talking via comments for months and only a few weeks privately but it felt like so much longer.

Just as you slipped your shoes on you heard a knock on your door and knew it was Matthew. Two or so days ago he had texted you asking whether you’d be comfortable with him picking you up or if you’d rather meet him at the location, you hadn’t needed long to ponder over the answer and texted him back telling him you’d like him to pick you up if he didn’t mind.

You took a deep breath before standing up and making your way over to the door. When you opened it you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as the nerves you were feeling faded to make way for excitement.

He was even more stunning in person, standing there with his own smile plastered on his face, cheeks flushed, from the cold or from seeing you, and eyes bright, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

The two of you stood there for a moment, just taking the other in before he cleared his throat and spoke.

“Hi, you look,” here he paused to clear his throat again, “You look beautiful.” He told you, causing you to blush slightly. “These are for you.” He said, holding the flowers out towards you.

“They’re beautiful, thank you.” You pushed the door open wider and invited him inside whilst you put the flowers in a vase and grabbed your jacket.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” You asked as the two of you left your house and walked towards his car. Matthew just grinned at you whilst shaking his head causing you to let out a laugh.

“Here, let me.” He said as he quickly moved around you so he could open the car door for you.

“Thank you.” You smiled.

It wasn’t long before the two of you were chatting away to each other, the initial nerves seemed to leave the both of you and it definitely didn’t feel like the first time you were in each other's company. You were able to pick up where you left off with your instagram message, slipping into easy conversation whilst you occasionally tried to get him to tell you where you were going to which he just laughed and said you’d find out soon enough.

Before long Matthew was indicating into a car park causing you to look around for any clue as to where you were. Your eyes widened and a grin spread across your face as you saw the sign that told you that you were at a pumpkin picking patch. You turned to face Matthew, unable to contain the joy written across your face which caused the man to let out a relieved sigh at his plan.

The two of you made your way in, your eyes trying to take everything in. Naturally there were pumpkins everywhere but in the distance you saw some children playing with animals at the petting zoo section, and not too far from them seemed to be horse drawn carriages, the carriages filled with hay bales.

You laughed as Matthew made a comment about an oddly shaped pumpkin. Matthew was everything you’d thought he would be and so much more, walking alongside him, you couldn’t help but smile as he rambled on, hands gesturing around unconsciously, he was so animated when he spoke.

“Oo, look at this one!” You exclaimed, making your way over to an impressively large pumpkin. Matthew grinned as he watched you struggle to pick up the pumpkin, you tried a few times before pouting over at him causing him to laugh.

“Maybe we should get a wheelbarrow.” You were quick to agree and pretty quickly the two of you found an abandoned wheelbarrow.

“Your carriage awaits, milady.” Matthew said whilst gesturing to the wheelbarrow, you raised your eyebrow at him but grinned as you sat down in it. Matthew couldn’t help but pause, you looked so beautiful, face flushed with the autumn air, grinning up at him.

God, one date and he was so gone for you.

He smiled back at you as he pulled his phone out causing you to laugh and pose.

Matthew was still laughing as he began pushing you over to where the pumpkin was and the two of you managed to heave it into the wheelbarrow. From there the two of you strolled around, Matthew pushing the wheelbarrow and you sneaking glances at him.

“I’ve never been to a pumpkin patch.” You admitted to him, watching in amusement as he gave you an incredulous look.

“How have you never been to a pumpkin patch?” He asked with over exaggerated shock, causing you to giggle.

“I don’t know, I mean I always wanted to but it wasn’t something we did as a kid and then as an adult I’m usually working so I never had the chance.”

“Well, I’m honoured to be the first person to bring you here.” He smiled softly and you couldn’t help but think how you wanted to spend many more falls with him.

Matthew turned the wheelbarrow towards a group of kids who were playing ring toss with the top of pumpkins.

“Care for a game?” He grinned as he left the wheelbarrow and stepped forward to pick up a couple of rings, waving them in your direction. You couldn’t help but grin as you took them from him.

“You’re on, Gubler.” The two of you were definitely the oldest people playing the game but neither of you cared to notice, so absorbed in your own little world that everyone else just ceased to exist.

Thankfully Matthew was just as terrible at the game as you were so there was no time for embarrassment at your tragic aiming skills, just room for laughter. You watched as Mathew let out a defeated groan as his ring completely missed the pumpkin again despite the fact he swore this was the one.

“I don’t think either of us are winning any prizes anytime soon.” You grinned as the pair of you walked away.

“I thought I was better.” He pouted, causing you to giggle.

The two of you had a nice collection of pumpkins, mostly the oddly shaped and huge ones with a few mini ones here and there, and Matthew suggested putting them in the car before grabbing some food from one of the many stalls. You agreed and soon the two of you were sitting at a picnic table with food and hot drinks in front of you.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” You said during a moment of comfortable silence that formed after you’d both finished eating.

“I’m glad you let me.” Matthew replied, a soft smile gracing his face. There was a slight pause, Matthew opening and closing his mouth, before he spoke up again. “Is this a date?” He asked, he wanted it to be a date so much and he was picking up the same intention from you but the last thing he wanted to do was make you uncomfortable.

You smiled down at the table before looking back up at him, “Yeah, yeah it is.”

Matthew tried but he couldn’t stop a grin from forming and you easily mirrored the expression.

The two of you stood, clearing the table, before heading off towards the other end of the field to where the horses were. You hesitated for a moment before linking your arm with Matthew’s, waiting for him to show if this was ok and when he smiled down at your linked arms and tightened his grip slightly you grinned to yourself.

The two of you talked amongst yourselves, still happily oblivious to the rest of the world, and when you arrived at the horse-drawn hayrides, Matthew offered his hand to you, helping you up before taking a seat next to you.

“Please tell me you’ve at least been on a hay bale ride?” Matthew said as he turned to face you, watching as you smiled sheepishly before shaking your head. “I have so much to show you!” He exclaimed, causing you to playfully roll your eyes.

Part way through the ride you shivered slightly, pulling your coat tighter around yourself. Matthew watched the movement and paused for a second before he wrapped his arm around you, just leaving it to rest there and letting you decide if you wanted to lean into him or not.

You bite your lower lip in order to hold back a smile and let yourself relax into Matthew, missing the smile on his face as you did. The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence, the two of you content to just be with each other.

On the car ride home, Matthew held your hand in his, absentmindedly brushing his thumb against it every so often. You couldn’t help smiling softly down at your joined hands, never had you felt so comfortable with a man, especially one you had only met today and yet here you were feeling like you’d known Matthew Gray Gubler forever.

Matthew was thinking pretty much the same thing, he knew that dating was serious to him. He couldn’t casually date, dating had always been a big deal to him and you were…you were wonderfully rare. The woman he had dated in the past had been so uniquely amazing that he was intrigued but you, you were captivating, from that first conversation that led to the two of you sitting here, hands entwined together after spending hours in each other’s company…he had known straight away you were special but after actually being with you that fact was solidified. He wanted more Octobers with you, he wanted to take you to all his favourite places and he wanted to visit all the places you held near to your heart.

As Matthew pulled into the driveway of your house, the two of you climbed out of the car and each hauled a few pumpkins up to your front door which you managed to open whilst balancing several pumpkins.

You both placed them down and Matthew turned to face you, standing in your doorway.

“I had a really great time today.” Matthew told you, sincerity shining in his eyes.

“So did I.” You replied, you really had had the best day with him and could only hope for many more to come.

“Can I take you out again soon?” He asked you, smiling as you nodded.

“I’d really like that.” The two of you, much like this morning when he picked you up, stood there for a moment, just taking the other in, before Matthew leaned down and placed a soft lingering kiss to your cheek.

“See you soon then.” He said quietly as he pulled away.

“Can’t wait.” You replied back, matching his tone and leaned against the doorway until his car disappeared from view.

You fell into bed that night with the biggest grin on your face, still riding the high from your date. You hadn’t had a chance to check your phone much since you’d gotten home but now that you were done for the night you pulled it out to open Instagram and began scrolling through your feed before switching to the explore section to scroll through some random pictures.

Whilst you scrolled aimlessly you paused at a set of pictures that had been uploaded three hours ago. There was you and Matthew, picking pumpkins, him pushing you in the wheelbarrow, the two of you leaning into each other laughing with flushed cheeks and finally a picture of you and Matthew during the hayride, you resting your head on his shoulder and him smiling down at you. When you clicked the comments you saw the fans were absolutely ecstatic.

Though you were slightly annoyed at whoever this person was for uploading what were clearly private moments, you also knew you didn’t have the privilege of privacy and neither did Matthew. You couldn’t help but smile down at the pictures though, they were cute and you couldn’t resist screenshotting them, the last one made you soft though, the expression on Matthew’s face…it was like he couldn’t believe you were there with him which was silly because if anyone should be in disbelief it was you.

You pressed the share button and then clicked your private messages with Matthew to send him the pictures before sending another message.

‘I think after this we’ll definitely break the internet.’

It didn’t take long before Matthew messaged you back.

‘We really should’ve had bets on how long it would take to get online. I do like the pictures though.’

‘Yeah, me too. Thank you today, Matthew, I had an amazing time. I can’t wait to see you again.’

‘I had a wonderful day too, I’m excited for our next date.’

‘Do I get to know what we’re doing this time?’

‘Hmm…nope! Have you got plans for Halloween?’

‘No, I’m free’

‘Can I take you out then? I have such a good idea!’

You laughed out loud as you read his message, his excitement seeping through the screen.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

‘You’re going to love it, trust me. I have an interview early tomorrow morning so I should get to bed. I really did have a great time with you today, Y/N. I look forward to seeing you again. Goodnight.’

‘I had an amazing day, I can’t wait to see you again. Goodnight Matthew.’

#Matthew Gray Gubler imagine #Matthew Gray Gubler x reader #Matthew Gray Gubler reader insert #Matthew Gray Gubler x y/n #mgg fic #mgg imagine #mgg oneshot #mgg fanfic #mgg x reader #mgg x you #mgg x y/n #mgg blurb #spencer reid #Matthew Gray gubler #Spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid imagine

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izzielizzie · 3 years

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life’s uncertain and sometimes it’s strange chapter one

okay this is the fastest i’ve written the first chapter of a fic like... ever but here’s the crossover i considered writing here!! i actually had a lot of fun, and it jumps around so feel free to ask me questions about anything that doesn’t make sense

song title from The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change by Nina Nesbitt

Maeve

Wednesday, December 15

“Okay so remind me what the problem is again?” Luis asks me as he sits on my bed, watching me pack my bags.

“The island, Luis."

Luis stares at me and I sigh, crossing my room to curl up in his lap. His arms go around me instantly. “And, what, my love, is wrong with an island?”

I sigh again, stretching out so my head is on my pillow. “It’s cold. There’s nothing fun about an island when it’s covered in ice!”

“Can you even get to an island in December?” Luis asks, absentmindedly drawing patterns on my stomach. When my mother had told our family over dinner last week that she had been invited to a mansion unveiling by her former best friend - some vaguely famous guy named Archer Story who basked in the glory of being young and rich in New England along with my mother - Bronwyn and I had no say in whether we were going or not. Our father got out of it easily with an arsenal of work excuses, but no trips to New York City with friends will stop our mother when she’s deep in her planning mode. Especially if it means she gets to go back to being rich on an island off the coast of Boston.

“That’s what I asked and Bronwyn laughed at me.”

Luis snorts. He and my sister have never gotten along as well as Nate and I do, but it’s stopped bothering me at this point. “Well, Maevey,” Luis hooks an arm under me and lifts me up so I’m sitting. “It’s just one week on the weird ass island and then you get to go to New York City with the rest of us. What could go wrong?”

I grin, my bad mood ebbing away at the thought of spending a week with my boyfriend and friends in one of my favorite cities. “Ugh fine.”

“Good. Now are you really going to bring all of my sweaters?”

I laugh as Luis lifts me up so we can sort out the sweater ownership debate that’s lasted for nearly a year now.

Aubrey

Saturday, December 18

“No plans of swimming in that water I hope?” Uncle Archer asks as I look at the ocean from the balcony of Catmint House. Yes. The same one that burnt down over the summer. Gull Cove Island is essentially the same as it was when I moved back to Oregon in July, with the exception of the large manor.

When the media asked Aunt Allison and Uncle Archer what they wanted to do with the remains of their childhood home, they hadn’t said anything, but in secret they both agreed that burning the ashes might be overdramatic, but most certainly warranted. Almost as if they had overheard, the Gull Cove Island Historical Society swept in and restored the mansion to its former glory, ultimately gifting the new building to Milly and I. Since Jonah North isn’t really part of the family, it’s not his.

“Who the hell would want that place?” he’d asked when we told him about the exclusion. Fair point.

“Hey, hey, don’t look so sullen,” Uncle Archer says, bringing me back to myself as he slips an arm around me. I hug him back with all my might. When I think about how close we came to losing him, I want to cry.

“Sorry,” I mumble into his shoulder.

“Don’t be. Now I hear we’ve got a family of three coming from California today. The kids are around your age.”

“Fun,” I say, making a face. Uncle Archer tugs on my sweater sleeve.

“Hey, their mom was my best friend. They’re probably good kids.”

Almost on cue, the doorbell rings.

“That’s them?” I ask as I look down at the black car that - presumably - houses the family in question. Archer nods. “You go. I’ll find Milly and Jonah.”

My uncle fakes a punch to my nose as he saunters off. I giggle. Rehab has done him well. I watch him walk away, and then exit the balcony into the hallway. I turn left towards my and Milly’s room, staying close to the middle of the hall. It’s strange being in here after what happened over the summer, especially since it feels almost unrealistic that everything could be restored so quickly. But I guess the fire Paula started didn’t really burn down the entire house. Just like, half of the inside. If I pause for long enough, I can still smell the smoke. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. Sometimes I’m fine, and other times I feel like I’m back with the gun pressed to my neck. I felt so helpless then, and I never want to feel that way again.

I knock on the door to our room, and I hear Milly and Jonah’s voices floating towards me, half giggly, half teasing. Whatever is going on in there, I do not want to see. “I’m coming in!” I call, pushing the door open with my eyes shut. “There is a person. Entering this room!”

I hear a crash, and I open my eyes to see Jonah perched awkwardly on the corner of my bed. Oh fun. At least they’re separated.

“What’s up Aubrey?” Milly asks, smoothing down her hair. After spending months angsting about cutting it or not, Milly decided on a respectable bob. She looks gorgeous, especially now that it’s grown enough to be just touching her shoulders. She’s more dressed up for the occasion than I am in a red knitted pullover tucked into a pair of black jeans. I glance down at my faded grey crew neck and my blue jeans.

“Should I change?” I ask in response.

“No way! You look beautiful,” Milly says, standing and pulling me to stand in front of the mirror. I look at my long blonde hair.

“Maybe I should just braid my hair or something?”

Milly huffs. “Jonah!”

“You look adorable Aubrey,” Jonah says dutifully from his spot behind us. I glance over at him.

“Easy for you to say! You look like a J.Crew model.”

Jonah grins. “Wow you just described my life’s ambition Aubrey,” he says dryly.

I grin and shake my head. I’ve missed this: being back with my cousin and friend. Even if they do spend a lot of time kissing each other. “Come on you two, the first guests are here,” I say, throwing my arm around my cousin.

Ezra

Sunday, December 19

“Ellery please stop bouncing,” I say to my sister. We’re on a train to New York City from Boston and Ellery is way too excited.

“Ez! I can’t! Do you know how many unsolved murders there are in Manhattan alone?”

“No. I do not.”

“And no one should!” Mia adds from the seats behind us. Ellery turns to see if Malcolm will back her up, but he’s asleep. Probably exhausted from dealing with her.

Ellery is still looking super excited so I turn to her. “Okay, I’ll bite. How many?”

“More than 480. And those are just recorded homicides.”

“Shhh,” I say, shushing Ellery as I catch sight of a red haired girl looking at us strangely from across the aisle. “Sorry, my sister’s really weird,” I say to her. She looks around our age. She’s wearing a fashionable beige coat and a black cap, but something about the way she’s burrowing into the jacket tells me she’s not used to the cold. There’s a boy sleeping in the seat next to her, whose hand she hasn’t let go of.

The girl smiles. “It’s alright! My best friend solved two murders once.” She pauses and makes a face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.” She shakes her head. “This is really odd, I'm sorry. I’m Phoebe Lawton.”

I grin. “I’m Ezra Corcoran, and this is my twin Ellery.”

Phoebe grins back. “Twins! That’s so cool. I don’t really know any twins.”

“Wait, can we go back to the part where you said your best friend solved two murders?” Ellery asks, leaning across me to look at Phoebe, who smiles a little. Mia groans from behind us. I turn to see her pull her headphones up over her ears. We exchange a look. Leave it to my sister to ask the awkward questions.

“Yeah well, we’re from Bayview, California, and I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about the-”

“Oh. My. God.”

I look down at Ellery, who looks as if she’s hit a goldmine. Phoebe looks startled but resigned.

“We’re from California too, before we moved to Vermont,” I offer, surprised despite myself. The story of Simon Kelleher was all over California before we left, and if I’m not mistaken, I think I know who this girl is talking about.

“Wait so your best friend is Maeve Rojas?” Ellery asks.

“Did someone say Maeve?” a new voice asks from the seat behind Phoebe. A boy who looks vaguely familiar with tan skin and wavy dark hair pokes his head into the aisle to look at Phoebe.

Ellery gasps. “You’re the boyfriend!”

The boy blinks slowly. “I… what?”

“Okay so in mysteries there’s always this boyfriend that is part of the drama but not really? And he like jumps around but he’s got a heart of gold and-”

“Ellery,” I hiss. “Let’s not reduce strangers to stereotypes please.”

“Murder?” yet another voice asks. This time it’s attached to a person the entire country knows well. Cooper Clay, pitcher for the Padres. Ellery takes a strangled breath. She looks up at me and I sigh.

“Switch seats with me,” she says in her “don’t mess with me” voice. I happily oblige, pulling out my own headphones. Maybe Mia was right. Just leave this crazy girl to her own devices.

#maeve rojas #luis santos #archer story #aubrey story #milly story #jonah north #ellery corcoran #ezra corcoran #mia kwon #malcolm kelly #phoebe lawton #cooper clay #one of us is lying #the cousins #two can keep a secret #izzielizzie's fics

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galacticlamps · 3 years

Text

Tagged by @the--highlanders ! Thanks!

How many works do you have on AO3?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

76,200

(oh what a nice even number - I should try to mess that up as soon as possible, shouldn’t I?)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Aw man is this intentionally worded to be really hard to answer? I get that it says ‘written’ and not ‘posted’ but then what constitutes a ‘fandom?’ I definitely wrote fics for stuff I was interested in long before I even knew the word ‘fic’ - I did it throughout my childhood, and then in high school, and while I didn’t do it as much in college, it still happened from time to time. So a lot of the books/movies/tv shows/plays/musicals I wrote things for aren’t really fandoms, and frankly, I had to check my old folder just now to even remember some of them existed. I’ll just list the ones that I know for sure had fandoms, since that’s more fun (and embarrassing), right?

Obviously Doctor Who, classic and modern, Torchwood, Sherlock Holmes (ironically more of these seem to be about the books, but yes, I will admit, some for that tv show too), Les Mis, a couple different Marvel comics & movies, Good Omens, hell, I even found a Night Vale fic in there just now.

And I know there are other older things not even in that folder, some of which never made it to a computer at all, so if I had to ballpark a number I’d probably say around 25ish but really, who knows?

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Across the Gap

On the Spot

Expectations

Shards of Memories & Fragments of Glass

Itemized

(this was fun, I’d never noticed Ao3 even had a stats page until now lol)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I take a long time to do so but for the most part, I usually get around to it. The rare exception would be if I first saw the comment when I was super busy/distracted and then felt like way too much time passed before I noticed it again, that it might be awkward if I said something at that point.

I do genuinely enjoy hearing what people think, but I’m also weirdly terrified of making anyone feel like they have to reply to my comments. I know that’s probably a little strange, but it’s actually a large part of why I made this Ao3 account in the first place - my original one, from high school, is followed by some long-time friends of mine who aren’t interested in this fandom, some of whom are involved in art & writing professionally. The thought of anyone like that reading something I wrote out of friendliness or even just curiosity and potentially having to pretend they liked it for the same reasons stressed me tf out, so I like having this virtually anonymous one because I can relax knowing that anyone who reads or interacts with something I wrote has probably done so only because they wanted to, rather than feeling obligated, and there’s no pressure on them to be nice to me about it if anything I write or post annoys them - so I really hope nobody who does just know me as an anonymous blog has ever worried about offending me by not replying to something, trust me, I’m perfectly happy with it!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t think I’ve really written any angsty endings? I guess the answer would have to be Reckless just because it involves the characters arguing about sad/weighty things and there isn’t really any solution to those issues - but even then I think I ended it with a kind of acceptance that stops it from really qualifying as angst? I also set it in the the same universe as other fics, so maybe that doesn’t even count as an ending? Am I that bad at ending things on angst? Lol

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Obviously none of the fics I’ve posted are crossovers but I’m trying to think now if any of my WIP’s are - I’ve definitely poached setting/premise ideas from other media, but in terms of actual crossovers . . . I’ve got a few cross-era or cross-Doctor, a few involving Torchwood, but that’s already the same universe, so the only thing that’d qualify as a true crossover would be some vague pieces of a fic where Jamie, Zoe, and Two end up on the Enterprise, since I think the 60s series of Star Trek and Dr Who feel kind of compatible, don’t they? In fact, aren’t there like officially licensed crossover comics or something? Or did I make that up? Idk, and the ideas are very loose, so it’s not much of a WIP either

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope, never

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I’ve never written smut, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that could change soon. There’s a longish multi-chapter fic I’ve been working on for a frankly embarrassing amount of time, and the plot does call for a sex scene at one point towards the end, but I can’t seem to make up my mind on how - uh, I guess the word is explicit? - it should get. I know I could easily do a fade to black/implication thing, but it’s kind of a source of contention and anxiety for the characters, so to skip over writing the actual scene and just revisit them afterwards rings of “and they slept together and now everything’s fine!” which feels kinda cheap to me - in this context, anyway - and not the right payoff for a long fic that’s otherwise more of an interpersonal drama/slightly a period piece, if I had to place it in a genre. I feel like my aversion to actually writing the scene might just be prudishness I should get over, or maybe just self-doubt, because I know I’d rather have a well-written, funny, character-development-supporting sex scene than nothing at all, but since I’ve never had any interest in writing a scene like that before, I don’t know if I can do it well, and I also don’t want to ruin a fic I’m otherwise proud of by doing it badly... ugh I have to figure this out

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I seriously doubt it

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, it’s gotta be Two & Jamie. I’ve shipped things before with varying levels of investment, but I’ve never been able to use the term ‘otp’ in a literal sense until I came across them, and now it’s already basically gone out of fashion, go figure!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I’m not sure if I have one? My WIP doc is huge, but I don’t actually intend to get around to finishing everything in it, so I’d like to think that anything I’ve currently singled out to complete can actually get done.

That said, I do have a few AU’s that I don’t really plan to finish, but it might be cool if I could. Two of them are for all the main + some supporting characters of the Second Doctor’s era - one’s a modern day school teachers AU, and the other is a typical fantasy/fairy tale AU. Another is just Two/Jamie, based on Doctor Faustus (specifically the Marlowe play version) but right now there are two different versions of the ending coexisting in my head. I’ve written parts of scenes & some gen. backstory for all of those ideas, but I don’t know if I’ll ever try to finish them, or what form a finished product would even take - a series of one-shots set in the same universe? one long multi-chapter fic with some kind of overarching plot? And the amount of context/worldbuilding a big AU like these would require might not make them very appealing fics for people to read, so maybe it is better if I just keep them to myself, since in my head I already know what’s going on in those worlds lol.

What are your writing strengths?

I honestly don’t know. I haven’t had a creative writing class since middle school, and since then I’ve only ever shown creative writing to others in a fandom context, so it’s been a while since I’ve discussed it or gotten critical feedback. I suppose when I work in other arts or even academic writing contexts, people usually say I’m kind of insightful or at least detail oriented, which might just be another way of saying I overthink things, but I like to imagine I’m decent at finding little points of interest to expand upon.

What are your writing weaknesses?

If you’ve read this far I feel like you must know what I’m about to say: I do not know how to be concise.

Usually when I’m writing a fic, I put down the dialogue first on its own, leaving out the action of the scene and whatever plot/context led there, even if I’ve already figured all of that out. But then when I go to add those things in, they’re always longer than I wanted them to be. I don’t mind writing something long, but I don’t want my fics to be a slog to get through either, and there can be a point at which the stuff I’ve added for context overwhelms the stuff that I wanted the fic to be about in the first place, so it becomes a structural/proportion issue too. I haven’t completely given up on any fics because of this yet, but there’s one I’ve been struggling with for a couple months now - probably because I’m even second-guessing myself on which scenes need to be written out and which can just be referenced like a recap. Hopefully I figure that one out soon.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

((this is karma isn’t it? i posted a fic last week with two words of gaelic in it and was worried about that and now this is karma))

In general, I don’t want to do it. I feel like you’ve gotta have a really good grasp of a language to write dialogue & speech patterns for someone who’s a native speaker, and since I’m far from fluent in any language the characters I write for are, I wouldn’t feel confident writing any significant amount of dialogue in, say, Gaelic.

As a sidenote, though, I kinda love it when other people do it, particularly for Jamie. Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish (Gàidhlig) are both languages I’ve wanted to learn for a long time, because my family’s fresh out of living speakers of either & I think that’s a shame, but I started with Irish and at the moment I’m still very much learning it. As different as they are, it still helps me understand parts of lyrics or texts that I come across in Gàidhlig fairly frequently, so when it comes up in a fic I get to feel like I’m being responsible and practicing, and it’s great when I can actually understand what’s being said.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I’m gonna go with Harry Potter even though that’s probably not a perfectly accurate answer - it’s almost certainly the first thing that has a fandom that I ever wrote for, but it was in a notebook when I was a kid and never something that I even typed on a computer, much less posted online or shared with other members of a fandom. But even then, I’m sure it wasn’t the first pre-existing fictional universe I ever set an original story in, because I did that a lot when I was a kid, it’s just hard to remember those clearly or on any kind of timeline.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I’m very partial to Across the Gap, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that ranked first on the kudos thing above - but I’ve also got a soft spot for So Merrily We’ll Sing. It’s so self-indulgent it feels silly saying ‘it was so easy to write!’ but I guess having a fic that’s already just 100% headcaonons and fluff tied together by a song you really love does prevent it from being much of a labor (I also managed to refrain from making that one unnecessarily long, so that’s another win there)

tagging @terryfphanatics and anyone else who wants to do it - sorry I’m bad at remembering whose tumblr goes with whose Ao3 account, but I really would be interested to read this if anyone else feels like answering them!

#oh boy that was long #sorry #also sorry if the 13 is really big for some reason #i dont know how it got that way so i dont know how to change it #it doesnt look like that when i edit the post only when i save it #not fic but fic talk

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sincerelymarinette · 4 years

Text

A Recorded Life Sequel (1/10) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1183 Chapter Summary: A few months after Hawkmoth's arrest and Fu's decision to make Marinette the new guardian, the crew has a lot going on. Between school, all types of work, and trying to hide from the world the heroes are still around, what could go wrong? At least there's a little break with Marinette's newest video. Author's Note: Hello! Welcome all to the A Recorded Life Mini-Sequel! This is going to be a 10 chapter series. The series will be split into two main parts, the first few being a few months after the end of A Recorded Life, and the second part being a few years down the line. It's gonna be fun and I hope you enjoy!

Next / Masterlist

A Few Months Later

---

Marinette ran as fast as she could down the sidewalk. She ran late leaving a design class, got to the bakery with just enough time to throw her stuff in her room, then grabbed her other bag to get on her way.

She checked her phone every ten seconds to keep an eye on the time, knowing she would be late no matter what. She did consider transforming into Ladybug for the fast commute, but figured it was too busy and bright out, and the world doesn't know they're still around just yet.

Finally, Marinette rushed through the revolving doors to dodge countless people as she ran to the elevator. She pressed the button as fast as she could, as many times as she could, knowing that wouldn't make the elevator come any faster.

Once the elevator door opened, she had to move out of the way for six people to make their (slow) exit. The last person in the elevator laughed at her. "You're late," She said as she exited.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Chloé, I know!" Marinette said as she pushed the button to the top floor.

The elevator couldn't move fast enough up the floors. Luckily, since she was going up, she didn't get stopped on other floors. As soon as she landed on her floor and the doors opened, she ran out, and to the room, she knows too well. Without knocking, she burst in. "I'm here!" She yelled.

"Ah, there she is!" Jagged Stone's voice called from somewhere in the suite. "Called it. Thirteen minutes on the dot," He joked as he rounded the corner with a big smile.

"No need to rub it in!" Alya's voice echoed, a little annoyed.

Marinette groaned. "Were you guys making bets again?" She asked as she and Jagged walked over to the big couch where Alya was setting up the camera.

"They were," Adrien said. "Penny and I know better just to let you get here when you get here," He smirked and stood up to hug his girlfriend. "How was school?"

"Stressful," She nodded. "Lots of work to do this week, but this gives me an excuse to take my mind off it all," Marinette reminded him. "So let's not talk about that now, let's film our video!"

"I think the fans might've caught on to what we're doing," Alya laughed. "The picture with Jagged gave too much away."

Marinette shrugged as she got out her notebooks and extra filming supplies. "Oh well, gives the fans something to look forward to. They need it," She said. "Ever since school started, I've had to slow down making videos, so giving them some hints makes them happy."

The group agreed with her reasoning, and Adrien laughed. "I'm still surprised you're making videos. With your workload, I don't know how you do it," He complimented. "Imagine if we had Hawkmoth to fight, too," He chuckled.

"Good thing we took care of that before we started University," Marinette sighed with big eyes. "I'm ready whenever you guys are," She motioned to the camera.

"Ready back here," Alya said as she monitored the camera and audio.

Jagged smiled wide. "Then let's begin!"

After getting one last confirmation nod from Marinette, Alya counted down to give them their cue. "Hi! I'm Marinette!" Marinette started the video. "It's been a while since we've had a video that wasn't related to fashion and school, but here we are, back with a fan favorite series, Adrien vs. Jobs!" She announced and Alya, Adrien, Jagged, and Penny all clapped as her audience. "Today our special guest is Jagged Stone, kind of obvious since he's right here, but we're all excited!"

"Oh, it's going to be a good one today, rockers," He smiled. "Making a song with Adrien Agreste?"

"Name a better crossover!" Alya shouted from behind the camera. "Truly iconic."

After a short fit of giggles, Marinette grabbed her notebook while Jagged held the guitar. "Adrien, what do you know about music?"

Adrien looked confused and furrowed his eyebrows. "I played piano and I mostly enjoyed it," He said.

"I meant rock music," Jagged explained further.

"Oh, well, not too much. I've listened to you for years and Nino DJs but not much past that," He admitted. "Oh! And for a hot minute I played with Luka and Juleka's band, but that was short-lived."

Jagged nodded. "Right, that's okay," He said. "We'll work on lyrics together and you just tell me if what I play sounds good. Maybe we can add a keyboard backtrack," He said.

Marinette mainly sat to the side observing, but she also took notes of anything that was said that they wanted to remember. The entire session of writing their song only took a few hours, and since Marinette has a big memory card, she was able to record nearly all of it (sure, they stopped recording at times when things got boring).

It was a shorter song, not a whole three minutes, but it still took time to come up with. At first, they started with random words and lines strung together, but as they got a little ways in, it started to sound like something that could have come straight from Adrien. Once they realized that, they dedicated the song to his mom and made it like a gift to her. They tried their hardest to make it an uplifting song, not wanting anything sad, and though it was emotional, they were able to make it have the Jagged Touch of a rock song.

It was almost like a letter to Emilie, but was just vague enough that anyone could relate to it and enjoy the song, but true fans would know the meaning. They were even able to get some keyboard to back up the guitar.

In the end, Marinette had tons of footage she could edit down (and maybe even release uncut one day) to make a special video, with the live performance of the song at the end. The fans would be so excited to see a new video with all of their favorite people in it, not just Marinette making a new outfit; even though they also enjoy that.

"So, Jagged, do you think Adrien could do this job?" Marinette asked at the end of the video.

"Parts of it. Maybe a lyricist," He smiled. "You know what? We should get into the studio and make this an official song and release it for real!" Jagged jumped up. "Not even a question, it has to happen. And we donate the sales to charity," He said.

Adrien jumped up as well. "I'm ready whenever!" He said.

Marinette smiled and shook her head at their excitement, then looked at the camera. "Well, keep an eye out for that! Check in the description for where to buy the song," She said. "And don't forget to check everyone out on social media, also linked in the description. Thank you for watching, and we will see you next time!" She ended the video, knowing everything to come from this was going to be amazing.

Immediately after, Jagged and Adrien got to work on making it an official song. And the fans ate it up.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries @toodaloo-kangaroo

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trashballerina · 4 years

Text

Hetalia Fics I Really Like

this ⭐ will be for fics I really like. I’ll try not to star everything.

I’m starting with my favorite of all time and tbh I think the fandom should see this fic as a OG, like Auf Weiderstein Sweetheart or Gutters, I really do.

Are We Even Humans ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (Literally all the stars)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4103344

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5660761/chapters/25048773 (prequel)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7036330/chapters/16007758 (sequel)

The war is over, but putting together everything that fell apart will be a greater challenge than anyone is prepared to handle. Alliances dissolve, and the lines between friends and enemies are blurrier than ever before.

Opinion: Please read it. It is a series with a sequel and a prequel that can be read on its own but it’s so good. Imma go on a quick rant here. This fic is great from the writing, plot, characters, and the nuances of nationhood abilities. I literally rioted during the first chapter because it was so good. One of my absolutely favorite things in the fic and the series as a whole is Prussia. Kingdom of Prussia, German Democratic Republic, Gilbert Beilschmidt. His character progression and seeing him through the series as a whole is astounding. I was literally left shaken at the end of this series and I’ve read it twice. The OC’s are usually the antagonists, but hot damn, they are memorable OC’s who are great (terrible?) villains. And the family dynamics! The family dynamics are enough of a reason to read it by itself and the romances. Omg I love this fic so much. Main takeaways: astounding characterization, amazing plot, will cry, long read, and a reality check on what it means to be a nation.

Would it be too much if I did a separate post on how much I love this series and an in depth analysis? (I feel like such a nerd omg)

Hard Times Passing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516458/chapters/56397817

Alfred is homeless during the Great Depression and in his wanderings he's charged with the task of caring for a small orphaned Taiwan. AU-Human names used, Taiwan is a child.

Opinion: So incredibly heart warming. It’s well written and I love the dialogue so much. Also, the little cameos from other characters are an absolute delight. It’s a it short, but so wholesome.

Flowers Don’t Grow on Battlefields ⭐

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14153106/chapters/32619954

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16898919/chapters/39697068 (sequel)

As war tightens its hold on the nations of the world, new alliances are formed. Nobody will escape the war unscathed. Italy only hopes that this time, he will find a way to save those he holds dearest.

Opinion: I realllly like this fic. Maybe I’m a bit bias because I remember reading it from like to third chapter and watching it get updated till the end, but this is really good. Cute gerita, great characterization, good plot, and some lines just really make me melt. And the fluff omg. There’s a sequel that’s linked under too that I may like more than the first.

Who Knew (One Shot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516695#main

“The last time the two of them had any sort of contact was when Gilbert sent the letter to Matthew before the first war started.

That was twenty-six years ago. Twenty-six years Matthew had not seen Gilbert. Twenty-six years of Matthew worrying about if his fiancé was alive or not. Twenty-six years of Matthew thinking about all the horrible things that could be happening to Gilbert. Twenty-six years of Matthew wishing he could just see Gilbert, even if it were just for a second. Twenty-six years of pure hell for Matthew. Twenty-six years of being all alone.”

Matthew Williams, the personification of Canada, never thought that he would fall in love, but he did. He fell in love with Gilbert Beilschmidt, the personification of Prussia, but their romance would have to be cut short with the up coming war that was soon approaching them.

Opinion: My god my heart. Matthew had great characterization. Like amazingly so. 10/10 somber and melodic tones throughout the story. Good tension. And again, my heart.

TELL ME A PIECE OF YOUR HISTORY ⭐

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3741175/chapters/8294941#workskin

An account of the media reactions to the reveal of Nations (anthropomorphic national embodiments) with scholarly commentary.

Heavily inspired by: United States v. Barnes, 617 F. Supp. 2d 143 (D.D.C. 2015) [fallingvoices, radialarch] with mixed genres.

Opinion: It’s really cool. It’s told through media, like email, twitter, texts, online magazines, subtitles of videos (not actual videos tho). I love the outside view point of the world on nations and how some people really like them and how others absolutely despise their very existence. One of the main things that sticks out the me is the in depth analysis other humans or posters do on the nations and people even interview the nations, chapter eight is like my favorite for that reason, or how some humans just gush about the nations on so media like how half the fandom does lol. It’s really good. Super creative, great insight on how to world sees the nations, and honestly a great read.

Red Winter (One shot and crossover!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/909492

The Winter Soldier's new target: a Russian politician named Ivan Braginsky.

Things don't go as planned.

Opinion: Literally so cool. Like nations are total BS to outsiders, especially assassins. I was loosing it during this fic because from Bucky’s POV nations are something else. The writing is really solid and the author uses italics to highlight an action sound or word and even single-word thoughts. The fight scene is really entertaining but also it flows fantastically.

In Costa Rica (Oneshot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18614041

“You have this backwards,” McLaughlin said. “Everything. You have it all backwards.” He was a lithe man, looked to be in his mid-thirties. Schnabel leaned back in his chair. Outside, the afternoon rain started, and the frogs momentarily fell silent. “They are dangerous, aren’t they?” Two men discuss the nations and history.

Opinion: No actual nations appear in this fic. It’s just two men talking about the nations and it’s really interesting to see them humor and take seriously the idea of nations. They both discuss what they already know about the nations and theorize. Also hearing an outside perspective and how the nations effect the word around them is golden. I give this fic a big ol’ chef’s kiss.

Finally, I’ll Just Miss You! (Oneshot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15553608

Countries will be abolished tomorrow. For the first time, they breathe and realize this might be their last breath and they’ll never wake up again. They want to wake up, they want to go to sleep, the land will still be there when they’re gone. But they breathe, it won’t be the same- for once, they feel human.

Opinion: Bro, I swear I’m not crying. This one is short but really bittersweet and my heart really hurts. I like the snippets of insight on the characters.

Diamond in the Rough ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12872642/1/

The year is 1952, the last full year of Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union. After an incident with Latvia, Estonia is determined to find out what Russia did to him. And so unfolds a chain of events that would lead the Baltic States to tears, to forgiveness, to unexpected courage and horrifying discoveries about the mysterious past of Gilbert Beilschmidt. See AN for rating.

Opinion: This just be a legitimate book. I have honestly read this one like three time and every time I read it I am absolutely elated to discover another detail or action I missed. It is a longer read but I think it is absolutely worth it. For one, the characterization is beautiful. Maybe I might be bias because I stan and love the Baltics, but how they are written compared to the many other fics I’ve read on them is phenomenal. While the author does take some creative liberties and deviates from canon a little, like the Baltics actually considering themselves to be brothers, I really enjoy the changes. ALSO, the history and research and on this fic is genuinely impressive. To think fic authors do this shit for fun and pour so much of their passion into a piece of writing. Secondly, while Russia may be an antagonist in this story, I honestly think it is just. His mentality, backstory, and current predicament explain his behavior and make him a justifiable antagonist. I highly recommend this one.

Adieux (Oneshot)

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6700886/1/

What happens to nations after they cease to exist? Do they simply disappear or do they get a second chance? It wasn't a subject Francis was particularly keen on finding out about...but at the same time, it wasn't something he could just ignore. One-shot

Opinion: I hate this fic because I love it way too much. I might of cried a little bit and I instantly melt of Francis and Matthew.

In Our Solemn Hour (incomplete) ⭐

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8975529/30/In-Our-Solemn-Hour

The time was World War II, at the dawn of a global conflict like nothing any of the Nations had ever seen before. Nothing could've prepared them for what lay ahead: a war more total and radical than anything they could ever have imagined. This wasn't just business as usual; it was centuries' worth of pent-up emotions all coming into play at once. This was indeed their darkest hour.

Opinion: Characterization is on point. One part of this fic I remember very well during a fight to the death, Finland mutters a little “Oh dear”. The characters retain some of the qualities that make them silly in Hetalia but because this is another take on it it does get darker. I think Germany’s portrayal is my favorite because he does cruel and unnesscary things and questions it because its not his usal nature. The author notes are super insightful and sometimes funny; it really adds to the rest of the story. I might revisit this post to make a more in depth opinion on it because I don’t remember it all to well when I know I really like this one.

So that was my post lol. I’ll probably make more on other fandoms later tbh or I’ll just make a part two. If you end up reading about any of these posts, please feel free to tell me about them! I love talking about fics and reading in general. Thanks for reading!

#hetalia #helltalia #fic reccomendations #fanfiction #hetalia fanfiction #recs #help i really love fanfiction

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meg-noel-art · 4 years

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003 Catra

Alright! My feelings on Catra as a character are a little complicated. I tend to find myself in the minuscule side of the fandom when it comes to most of my thoughts about her. But, maybe hear me out and let me know what you think of my answers:

1.) How I feel about this character:

This is such a huge question. Catra is a super interesting character in the sense that I think she sort of falls into the same realm as big complex bad ladies like Azula. But at the same time, she doesn’t totally succeed for me in that realm, because at the heart of it, Catra (eventually showed us in season 4) and the writing have both stated, ‘her heart’s never really been in it’. Now, I would really argue this point based on a lot of various scenes throughout the show, but I do agree that she’s maybe never had the same vitriol or wherewithal as a villain like Azula--who was so dominating and heartless that it didn’t really matter if you sympathized with her as a character or not. She was just a fucking capable cool badass that acted as a narrative foil to Zuko.

I don’t think Catra pulls it off in the same way, although I feel like that’s where they were trying to take it. Catra is a good character in the sense that we need to see way more complex and messy female characters in media. She’s definitely complex, definitely messy, definitely sympathetic in some ways. But she’s also a really terrible person. And, in my opinion, not just after Adora leaves the Horde. She’s shown in episode one to be fairly selfish and self serving and petty. That just gets exacerbated as she gains power.

I’m hoping season 5 gives Catra a chance to show that she has a modicum of desire to be a decent person. But right now, she’s a disaster. I’ll get into what I hope canon does with her later.

2.) Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character:

Realistically, I don’t ship anyone with Catra. I don’t think she’s ready for it, nor will she be ready by the end of the series. I think she’s certainly had cute interactions with some characters. Before season 3, I really liked Scorptra. Scorpia struck me as the kind of person Catra needed. Someone who genuinely respected her for who she was and treated her well. But, Catra didn’t appreciate it in the same way. I think Catra needs to go through a lot of personal growth before she’ll ever truly be able to fit into any kind of relationship. But when she does.... Perfuma x Catra rights. That would be cute as hell.

3.) My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character:

I dunno if I feel super strong in the idea that these two had a ‘friendship’? But Double Trouble was someone Catra really needed in her life. She needed that absolute roasting wake up call. And DT was not afraid to dish it out. Considering their easily swayed loyalty, it’s hard to say if DT ever really considered Catra a friend (I think they did in their own way) but I’m certainly glad they met and ended the way they did.

4.) My unpopular opinion about this character:

I have a lot of unpopular opinions about Catra. And I’m pretty sure my above points have made most of them clear, so I’ll just fill this one in with I don’t ship Catradora. I believe firmly that Catra and Adora loved each other at one point, as much as they could in an environment like the Horde. But I also believe their relationship has changed so drastically, been broken so many times, that it could never go back to the way it was.

And it shouldn’t.

That’s now how relationships work. This story about Princesses has proven to be anything but a classic fairytale. I’m sure Catra and Adora will have a reunion, and they’ll both want to at least know each other again. But a romantic relationship feels so far-fetched to me at this point, when you add up how many times they’ve just been literally trying to kill each other. I don’t find that romantic or cute. The enemies to lovers trope has always been a looser way of describing characters as ‘rivals’, not necessarily two people genuinely out for the others lives.

Anyway.

5.) One thing I wish would happen in canon:

Okay so, my ideal ending for Catra as the series wraps up next month. I want her to work together with Glimmer to escape Horde Prime. I’m sure the two will talk and realize their mistakes through one another. I think Catra should willingly join the Rebellion’s fight against Horde Prime. After it all ends, I’d like her to apologize to Adora, certainly. But it would also be really fucking cool, and a great moment of growth for Catra if she could see what Adora has built, the family she’s made outside of the Horde, perhaps the love she’s found, and be genuinely happy for her. And to tell her that she is happy for her. I think it would be super fucking healthy and a great arc for Catra is she was able to let go of Adora, in the sense that her obsession for her attention/the need to be better then her goes away. If she could truly see Adora as a friend that has found happiness outside of her and be content with that, I would BAWL.

I think she should go back to the Crimson Waste on her own and try to find herself and carve out who she wants to be. Huntara is there, and I can actually see her being a really good role model for Catra. They both have the same attitude, but Huntara has a sense of duty and honor that she could easily imprint on Catra. Plus, they’re both Horde. They’d swap stories. Huntara would be the kind of mentor who would easily tell Catra she’s proud of her, and I think she needs that.

So yeah, ultimately, Catra taking time to just find and love herself would be my ideal ending. I think she’d discover she was right all along, she’s never ‘needed’ anybody else, per say. She can be strong and independent in herself, but having people who care about her is a definite plus and she can depend on them too.

6.) Favorite friendship for this character:

If and when Catra is able to grow and say she comes back to visit the princesses, I’d love to see her and Mermista interact. I think they’d be snarky buds and that would be super cool. I also loved Noelle’s concept of her and Netossa. Same vibe.

7.) My favorite crossover ship:

N/A, sorry Catra.

Those are my thoughts! Lemme know what you agreed/disagreed with! We’ll see her how arc ends up soon...

#catra #anonymous #asks #she ra #spop #she ra and the princesses of power

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shinrasfirst · 4 years

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-> Mun meme <-

Repost rather than reblog, thanks!

Basics

name (or preferred online name): min. age: 28. birthday: november 15. fluent in: english, german. and soon portuguese. watch me.

Writing details:

preferred genres/tropes/aus: horror, angst, psychological, thriller, dark genres in general, romance. <-- i’m stealing this answer 1:1 from kay because it’s perfect. disliked genres/tropes/aus: domestic fluff without a purpose, pregnancy and childbirth, fight scenes, social media aus like wtf do you even do there write out youtube videos??, religion themed things (based on real religions), “celebrity” aus, college aus without any further plot (that’s a setting), hogwarts based aus (again, what’s the plot that is just a setting). preferred writing styles: multi-para to novella. tho i don’t usually write novella because it takes me long enough to write multiple paragraphs. sometimes it happens though. i don’t really do one-liners anymore. personal icon preferences (do you use them? do you prefer certain sizes? ect.): mine are like 75x75 to 100x100. i like using them because i think they complement the post, but i don’t always have one that fits or even any for certain characters, so i also write without them. i don’t mind when people use no icons. any other details about your writing preferences you want to include: i like both present tense and past tense (i tend to write present tense). i kind dislike first person narrators, but i can live with them. what i really fucking hate is second person narration, that’s only acceptable in homestuck. i don’t like double small text because i can’t read it; seriously i already zoom in to 150% sometimes on the regular dash. i also can’t deal with these posts that are so formatted every other word has a different font size, italics, boldness or color. it LOOKS great, but it’s annoying to read, tbh. that, and it’s usually accompanied by purple prose which i absolutely despise. i find it laughable that some people consider that “high quality writing” like no. it very often doesn’t make sense, it’s overly complicated, it sounds like the writer had a sentence in their head and then looked up an archaic synonym for every single word just to sound cool. and it usually creates long paragraphs in which literally nothing happens but someone dropping a pen and saying “ur dumb” but in very fancy. i’ll let this slide as poetry, but not as epic writing. stop making people feel inferior for (luckily) not being “able” to write like that, it’s seriously not better at all. go back to college and ask any literature professor (who doesn’t specialize in poetry - or maybe even them) if they think this is good writing. i dare you.

Get to know me:

what fandoms do you consider yourself a part of, even outside of this blog?: SO MANY! just gonna give you the ones i rp or rped in the past (and haven’t rage quit). star wars, the originals, harry potter, tmi, the witcher, dragon age, baldur’s gate, gentleman jack, lord of the rings, sailor moon. what fandoms are you entirely uninterested in?: 50 shades of misrepresentation, 13 reasons why not every book should be adapted for tv/cinema, game of ra/pe and torture, overwatch (i don’t hate it i’m just not interested), steven universe, adventure time, american horror story, ... favourite foods: pasta asciutta favourite drinks: coffee, sprite, hot chocolate, elderflower spritz hobbies: writing, video games, watching series/movies, spending time with my doggo, drawing, hiking/going for walks list ten things you want to do in the future: be healthy, finish my stupid studies, pay back my debts, live in brazil for 1+ month, visit new zealand, learn how to use worbla, buy a better car, meet bts, meet monsta x, become better at baking what do you wish would change in the rp community?: i want to go back to how it was when i first started out rping on tumblr. where people still understood that fanon is not canon. when everyone still remembered how to mind their own business. when anon hate was a rare and unusual thing. when witch hunts were a thing of the dark ages. i’ll take back the gigantic gifs and unformatted, uncut, messy posts filled with all the fanfic tropes, if you take back all the vile fake social justice bullshit and the sky-high anxieties it causes. literally, take me back to the start. what are some of the things you love about the rp community?: the shared excitement over certain things. the memes are fun. the birth of bizarre ships and dynamics (incl. crossovers). generally the possibilities of meeting great writers and lovely people. anything else you’d like to add?: please proceed into android hell. 🙃

#( munday. )#( psa. )#( tag game. )

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darkzorua100 · 5 years

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So with Vrains coming to a close next week (honestly I’m more shocked about how fast time has gone by), I’ve been thinking more and more about Yu-Gi-Oh 7th and just what this new series could be about. Like I said in the past, we will probably not be getting any more info about it until Jump Festa in December but at the time of writing this, that is still a few months away. We got nothing but time to think of what the next series could be about.

With that being said, I’m really am starting to believe we could be getting some kind of All-Star/Crossover entry into the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise for Yu-Gi-Oh 7th. From what I’ve been hearing/seeing, not just from Yu-Gi-Oh but other medias as well, it just seems to make sense.

1. The Announcement

So when Yu-Gi-Oh was confirmed to be getting a new anime series in 2020, obviously we didn’t get much detail but what we did get got people talking. One of the big take aways from the news was this quote about how “the history of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series will change." The video showed us a recap of the precious series and how this anime was going to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the anime franchise. The three big theories that started from this, from what I saw anyway, was that we were finally going to be getting a female protagonist, some kind of DM reboot, or a massive crossover between the past series. Thinking about how it, the crossover one seems to be the one that were hinting at the most since the quote, along with the video, seems to imply all of the series might have some role to play in YGO 7th. Plus with this anime being to commemorate the anime series as a whole, it just makes sense to do something to celebrate the franchise as a whole.

It makes me think that if we do get this crossover, it might not just be some kind of All-Star series. It makes me think that we could be getting some kind of new protagonist who is trying to stop said villain of the series from jumping from series to series to mess with their story lines. Like an anomaly that isn’t supposed to be there that just destroys everything. Really puts a meaning to the quote of “changing the history of the anime series”. Having a villain literally changing the events of DM, GX, 5Ds, Zexal, ARC-V, and Vrains for the better or worse (so basically a fanfic writer is the villain lol).

For example, in the case of DM, someone showing up in front of Pegasus during the Duelist Kingdom arc and explaining to them the events that are going to happen during his tournament which might cause him to rethink his plan and device something competently new that would change the rest of the current arc going forward. Or in 5Ds, someone stopping Jack from stealing Yusei’s Stardust Dragon and going to Neo Domino City which ended up being the catalyst for Yusei to go after him and leading to the events of everything that was to come. Heck we could do something really dark, such in Vrains, with someone showing up during the Hanoi Project to convince Ryoken not to make that phone call to the police, in turning saving the Lost Children, which in turn could lead to them dying. The butterfly effect. One simple change and the whole course of history in a series could change. Maybe their goal is to keep the protagonist of their respective series from becoming the heroes that we know of them today and said protagonist of this series is trying to fix the events that said villain tampered with.

2. Pokemon

Yes I’m bring up Pokemon for this argument. Why you might ask? Simple. For those that don’t know, Pokemon was recently confirmed to be getting its Gen 8 anime for Pokemon Sword and Shield but the main twist to this that no one saw coming was that it was confirmed to not only be set in the new Galar region, but in all the past regions from Kanto to Alola. More information should be getting revealed soon about that but I just find that odd. People like to compare Pokemon and Digimon together but to me, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh seem to have a closer comparison to each other. Both of them started in 1996 and both of them have long running anime franchises that always seem to begin and end right next to each other for a series. It might just be a weird coincidence, and honestly really has no proof to it as they are two separate franchises, but we all know how much these two love to squeeze in nostalgia whenever they can and being 20-year-old franchises gives them perfect opportunities to dedicate a series around each at the same time.

3. 1000th Episode

Honestly, I didn’t even know about this little detail until Tumblr user, @stellirex, pointed this out in a post of theirs. The very first episode of YGO 7th will be the 1000th episode of the whole franchise.

Zero: 27

Duel Monsters: 224

GX: 180

5Ds: 154

Zexal: 146

ARC-V: 148

Vrains: 120

27 + 224 + 180 + 154 + 146 + 148 + 120 = 999 episodes.

Yeah if that doesn’t scream some kind of big event/crossover to commemorate the anime series as a whole, I don’t know what does.

So yeah, in conclusion, I think the chances of us getting some type of crossover anime seem to be pretty high. And if this isn’t the case, ignore everything I just said. If anyone wants to add anymore evidence to this, be my guest.

#Yu-Gi-Oh!#DM #GX #5Ds #zexal #arc-v #vrains #ygo 7

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 4 years

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“It’s a contradiction” – exclusive interview with Charlotte Wessels & Martijn Westerholt about Delain’s upcoming album, Apocalypse & Chill

The dance on the edge of the abyss and its soundtrack: Dutch chart-topping metal outfit Delain have spent the last several years increasingly taking the world by storm, one album at a time. Now, with five successful releases already under their belts, the heavy crossover icons reach new heights with their latest multi-faceted dystopian masterpiece, Apocalypse & Chill. On Apocalypse & Chill, Delain leaves all stereotypes and preconceived notions in the dust – exploring themes of impending doom and human indifference – making this their boldest, most daring and undeniable offering yet. On a cold and foggy Friday evening, we had the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with Charlotte Wessels and Martijn Westerholt about their upcoming release.

MyTouche Blog: What is the message behind the title and the cover of the album?

Charlotte Wessels: So, when you look at the lyrics, but also just the vibe musically, half of them are like really post-apocalyptic and dystopian. On the other hand, there are also nostalgic songs. There’s quite a contrast. It looks like the world’s on fire – no, the world is quite actually on fire. And we all live in the world dominated by social media, and you only see the perfect lives on those platforms. It’s a contradiction, that’s where Apocalypse & Chill came from, and it’s a wordplay on Netflix & Chill which is also very much symbol of the times, you know.

Martijn Westerholt: On the album cover you can see a lady getting a tan, sunbathing and in the background, there’s a city on fire. It’s the same vibe there so it very much supports the theme of the album, it’s very fitting.

MyTouche Blog: As time goes by how much is it hard to keep the original Delain sound?

Martijn Westerholt: That’s not hard at all actually! Because, from our perspective, we don’t plan to write in a certain way. We accept the fact, that we always say “okay, let’s make it even harder, louder and heavier”, but for the rest, we don’t really plan and we just write how we always write. At least, it’s how it feels to me. And of course, when you change as a person also your music automatically evolves as well. But to me, it all fits together and although I don’t wanna deny that this album is – I think – the most diverse album we’ve made so far. A lot of elements in there, but we’ve used those elements before: electronic, orchestral. It’s all well-known stuff to us. (laughs)

MyTouche Blog: What things inspired you the most while you were working on this album?

Charlotte Wessels: Hah, good question! Yeah, for me usually it’s just everyday life, and as I mentioned earlier, the stuff that you worried about, the stuff that occupied your mind or it can also be inspiring just being on your bike towards a songwriting session while the Sun is shining, you know… It puts you in a certain mood. So it really depends on the day but in general, I’m just inspired by the things that are the most occupying in my mind at the time of writing. And most of the time, since we write the three of us, a big part is also just the people whom I write with, so it also takes a very big role.

Martijn Westerholt: Yeah, we inspire each other. That’s the best gift you can give each other. And for me, it’s also just about making music especially when I feel good physically and mentally, then I just start playing…

MyTouche Blog: Beast In Black’s Yannis Papadopoulos had a guest appearance on your upcoming album, and Vengeance is actually turned out a very interesting and exciting song. Could you tell us please that how did the idea of the cooperation come up?

Martijn Westerholt: First of all, it’s kind of in our DNA to have guests in our music. We love to work with guests, it’s always a very rewarding process. So, in general, we like working with guests. In the case of Yannis: we have toured with Sabaton a couple of years ago and he came to a show, and Charlotte talked to him extensively, they kept in touch, and I also kept in touch with Anton, the songwriter of Beast in Black. Somehow I think it was summer, when we played at a festival in Spain and they were playing as well, and during that time we were very much in the process of our album, and we had some material what we thought could really fit for his voice, so we asked him if he would be open to. We gave him this material and asked him to choose something from this material, and he chose the song Vengeance. That’s how it came to be, and I really happy with the result, he is such an insanely talented singer, so yeah, we really happy to have him on this song.

MyTouche Blog: The whole album has a very cool and modern sounding, it a little bit reminds us of the latest Within Temptation album, Resist. Were our first impressions valid, did it have any influence on you?

Martijn Westerholt: Well, of course, my brother writes a lot of Within Temptation stuff together with Sharon.

Charlotte Wessels: Maybe it’s in the Westerholt’s gene! (laughs)

Martijn Westerholt: (laughs) Yeah, because it’s not really concretely like “oh, I feel inspired by what they do” and then I do it too or something. That doesn’t really happen. We do show each other what we are currently making, you know, but that’s kind of it. So, yeah I think – it’s for me at least – it ends there, but when I heard the song “One Second” I could really recognize that typical element in there.

Charlotte Wessels: Yeah, similar. I mean there are certain bands which are often compared with us, and a lot of them I used to listen a lot too, like Within Temptation. Before I was in Delain I had gone to every show that I could. I’m not going to say that I’m not a fan, because I am, but as long as I know that people compare us a lot, I tend to not listen to them too much in order to not be influenced by it subconsciously, you know what I mean? Like I tend to listen to more bands that have absolutely nothing to do with us when we are writing, because it kinda keeps you fresh in a way. So I am absolutely sure that their latest album is very inspiring but yeah, I haven’t listened to it too much. (laughs)

MyTouche Blog: We felt like that the sixth song on the album, “To Live Is To Die” is some kind of line between the first and second parts of the album.

Charlotte Wessels: We didn’t do that intentionally, but I can see where the idea is coming from, because it’s kind of a bridge between the more poppy part of the beginning of the album and the more symphonic part. So yeah, it does kinda function as a bridge if you look at it that way.

Martijn Westerholt: Yeah, it has this electronic theme in there and it also has it’s orchestral middle part and choir. Now that you’ve mentioned, it makes total sense. (laughs)

MyTouche Blog: The first verse of “Legions Of The Lost” is in Latin. Where did that idea come from?

Charlotte Wessels: So when Martijn wrote the first part of the “Legions Of The Lost” he programmed the choirs and I think that was Latin lyrics, right?

Martijn Westerholt: Yes!

Charlotte Wessels: Then we did actual choirs and I didn’t want them to sing just anything, but on the other hand the Latin sounded very… You know how it sometimes adds a bit of mystery, when it’s not a language that you speak yourself, and also because it felt old. For me, it adds extra weight to the sound of the choir, so I went dusting off Latin and looking for phrases and words from old poetry. It really fits with the theme of “Legions Of The Lost”.

MyTouche Blog: Your brand new video for the song called “Ghost House Heart” just came out. Can you share with us some details and behind the scenes stories about the shooting?

Martijn Westerholt: Well, we’ve done it in December in Liverpool. We, me and Charlotte, went there. It had it’s own victorian vibe, you know. It was an old house, it was even a haunted house! And this mid-December period is a really dark time outside, it gets dark really early and all, and it was cold, but this really fitted the vibe. I really-really liked that. I didn’t even dare to go upstairs, Charlotte did, she was braver than me. (laughs) I stayed downstairs.

MyTouche Blog: What do you think, which song will be the most successful from the upcoming album?

Charlotte Wessels: I think “Masters of Destiny” has already proven itself to be quite successful along with “Burning Bridges”. Actually I feel that “Legions Of The Lost” could be very popular too. Martijn and I came to the conclusion that we both really like how “To Live Is To Die” and “Creatures” turned out. But yeah, time will tell which one is the most present track on the album.

Martijn Westerholt: It depends on a little bit if you look at it from a live perspective, or if you look at it from an album perspective, because those are completely different. There are songs which are very popular when we play them live, but those are not necessarily the most popular on streaming services. It also depends a little bit on that. I think the record point of view “Masters Of Destiny” could really be a candidate for that, but yeah, we have to find out.

MyTouche Blog: And what is your personal favorite track from the album?

Martijn Westerholt: That’s also a difficult one. Yeah, I like “Creatures” and “To Live Is To Die” very-very much, and just how they turned out I also really like very much.

Charlotte Wessels: For me, it’s probably “Legions Of The Lost” and “Masters Of Destiny” following up.

MyTouche Blog: And the last one is coming: please, describe the album in five words!

Charlotte Wessels: HAH! Should I start, Martijn?

Martijn Westerholt: Yes, and then…

Charlotte Wessels: Diverse!

Martijn Westerholt: Heavy.

Charlotte Wessels: Orchestral.

Martijn Westerholt: Then I say electronic.

Charlotte Wessels: And then I say apocalyptic!

#Charlotte Wessels #Delain #2020 interviews

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uta-no-knb · 6 years

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Blog/Life Updates

Whats up fam! It’s Orca (or Jupie, whichever you prefer). So this is just a post with several announcements (no hiatus I promise you). Just some updates…like what I do in my spare time in addition to running this blog and yes gifs included XD ( loooooove gifs!)

This will include repeats of my previous long post...so bare with me

Please read the whole post through :)

LETS BEGIN!!

1. Scenarios/Headcanons/Requests

First off, I apologize for the amount of time its taking to get the requests done! In my ask box I currently have 14. I’ve had some real life situations that I had to take care of-and some are still being dealt with. BUT REST ASSURED I am working on them. Plot bunnies are really slow with coming up with ideas for the scenarios ( with the exception of the sequels…they have ideas already. I just have to make a story outline for them.)

2. Notes in Regards to NSFW Requests

Like I mentioned in my last long-ass note, I realize that Aomine is one of the most popular characters (which I cannot figure out for the life of me as to why he is) requested for NSFW.

There are only so many different ways authors can write NSFW requests without them being repetitive. IM STILL DOING NSFW REQUESTS. You can still send in Aomine NSFW requests, just know that most of the time they won’t be full-on NSFW or if it sounds generic, I won’t do them.

I apologize for this-don’t hate me.

3. Rules

I realize that its been sometime since I started this blog, and as it continues to grow, I’ve realized that the rules are outdated. So I will be updating the rules...when I’m not being lazy...

4. New Stories?

So, again like I mentioned in the last a/n I have been toying with the idea of starting a Kasamatsu x OC story; it will be a crossover with another sports anime (here’s a hint: it involves teams represented by a crow, cat, and an owl).

The second story idea is an Uta Pri story featuring the rocker from “Quartet Night”, Kurosaki Ranmaru.

Tell me what you think.

5. Possible New Fandom??

So I’ve also been toying with the idea of, in addition to this being a KnB scenario blog...if I should add the “Uta no Prince-sama” fandom as well...maybe? I’m not sure.

6. Music/Covers

If you have been following my blog from the start, I answered some asks in regards to making a parody of “Mama Mia” with “Hanamiya” (Rest assured, this will happen, I just don’t know when yet.)

In addition, I am working on translating several character songs from Kuroko no Basuke and other series and making covers for them. The songs include:

“Locker Room Shout for Tomorrow” - Kasamatsu Character Song (gotta include Bae)

“Bring it On Now” ~ Kuroko Character song, feat. Takao

“Steal Your Breath” - Hanamiya Character Song

“Watakushi wa chūjitsuna inu desu (I am a Faithful Dog)” - Roen Character Song (Dance with Devils)

“Clear Blue Departure” - Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (remake)

“Poision Kiss” ~ Quartet Night (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“We are Starish” ~ Starish (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“Only One” ~ Kurosaki Ranmaru (Uta no Prince-Sama)

“Bright Road” ~ Kurosaki Ranmaru (Uta no Prince-sama) [ NEW ADDITION TO THE LIST!]

If you want to see an example of my covers, here’s my version of “Clear Blue Departure”. This is my AMV/anime covers channel NOT my personal channel.

7. Social Media

So as you may or may not know, this is not my main blog; this is one of my side blogs. I have an additional sideblog called “Unofficial Anime Quotes” (<-Click to go there). I just created a new side blog called “FortunateHarmoniousOwl” (<- Click to go there) which is my anime sideblog.

I also will be making an Ao3 account (I have one, just have to remember my log-in and stuff)

8. Tags

I will be going through the entire blog and tagging the posts with their correct tags-as well as updating the tag page on the desktop version of the site (eventually....maybe.....there are a lot of posts....)

9. Chit-Chat

I love talking to you guys. Don’t be afraid to send me asks about anything. If you need to vent-send me a private message and I’ll listen. If you want advice, send me an ask on anon and I’ll listen and offer advice. Hell, even normal conversations are nice too :-)

So dont be afraid-I’m a friendly person I swear

10. Commissions?

I’ve been considering doing commissions but...and this is insecure me coming into play-I’m not sure if my writing is good enough for commissions....I don’t know. Do you guys think I should (not being pity I swear. It’s curiosity)?

AND FINALLY...

11. Followers

I’m shook....I honestly can’t believe that there are 847 of you guys following me and my silly blog.

Thank you all so much!! I know my writing isn’t as great as other writers, ( @ourneverendingpossibilities @boku-no-knb @darkanddirtyknb just to name a few) but I sincerely, and honestly value and appreciate every one of you for sticking around and for your patience. I love writing, so the fact that you like my writing (which is mostly dialogue writing)….it shocks me...Like it seriously does.

So, I figured, I would do a little reward thing for milestones.

When this blog reaches 1,000 followers, I will do a Q & A video, recording me playing the sims (I will be starting a new game when this milestone happens); no face, just my voice. When we reach 1,500+ followers, I will do a full face reveal.

^ Finally, I know right? XD

Okay, I believe that’s it for announcements; I’m sorry its so long XD.

I would appreciate it (if you wanted) to leave me some feedback on some of my suggestions-like the new fandom, stories, and so on)

ANYWAY

I really, really, REALLY appreciate every single one of you who are here with me. You guys are just plain awesome and-if I could, I would give each and every one of you a hug!

Anyway, Until next time!

~Orca/Jupie

#orca speak #long ass authors note #very long #gifs #knb #scenarios #updates

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aftermathdb · 6 years

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Death Battle Review: Sora vs. Pit

Battle five of season five (or battle 92 overall (eight more episodes to go until battle 100!)) brightens up your day with two warriors of light duking it out to see which heart is more pure for their sacred weapon in this fight to the end.

This is a popular request. As it’s being done for the release of Kingdom Hearts this year, we have a fun battle coming ahead between these two warriors of light.

Sora′s Preview.

Sora’s preview opens up in the standard way. Going over the backstory, and what he did before he became a warrior. It really helps to sell how absurd that it is that Sora is part of both the Final Fantasy universe and the Disney universe. Let’s be real here, Kingdom Hearts is a crossover franchise that works out so well despite so much going against it. Though, it does bring up the question of how the scaling is going to work.

The keyblade also has its own card. Being about 3′6″ in length, it’s certainly no Dragonslayer, but it has a lot of powerful magic to give it a boost. And it can open any door? Heh, who needs lockpicking skills and tools when you can just have a keyblade, am I right? - It also seems to be able to act on Sora’s desires, even when he’s unconscious. Similar to Raven’s soul-self.

Oh, and evidently, Donald Duck and Goofy (friggin’ GOOFY!) are world-hopping warriors. Crazy, huh?

Sora’s magic also holds some stuff to be impressed by. Like healing, gliding, and the rest of your standard Final Fantasy magic. Including fire, ice, electricity, gravity and even… Stopga (Creative name there, Square).

They even compare his abilities to other Disney characters like Peter Pan, and Figment. Plus, the Kingdom Key also seems to act like Thor’s mystical hammer, Mjolnir (Hey. Disney owns Marvel. I can make the comparison).

And then they completely lose me with the whole “Somebody” “Nobody” thing, it gets confusing. I’m with Boomstick here, “I’m a somebody who’s really really confused.”

Judging by feats, Sora has speed, strength, and durability. And it also looks like he can join Link in the “Guys who defeated Cloud Strife” club.

As for weaknesses, it seems that he shares the same ones that Beast does. He relies a bit too much on his friends and allies to accomplish things, and as we all know: DEATH BATTLE bans outside help unless the other side gets something similar. Though, given that Pit can’t fly without aid from Palutena, I’d say that this should be fairly even.

That end line was cheesy as hell, but given that it’s Disney meets Final Fantasy, I can see it being appropriate.

Pit′s Preview.

And the Kid Icarus development hell is brought up fairly quickly. Pit’s backstory is interesting enough, he’s a commander, he leads an army, and we are definitely not talking about the one from Captain N.

Despite Pit being well-over 25 years of age, he still seems like he’s a teenager. This… is a bit disturbing because of how some media says that people are the age in the afterlife that they are when they died. Which means that Pit probably died young, if we’re talking in the sense that he was not born in Angel Land (Real creative naming there, Nintendo).

The background has another jab at the old Captain N cartoon, and adds that Pit thinks eating Ice Cream off the floor gives you health. Hey, that’s how most Video Games work, right? - It must be a nod to how he leans on the fourth wall.

We’re also faced with the logic that is “The captain of an angel army doesn’t have his own wings.” - Gameplay mechanics, am I right?

Pit’s signature weapon doesn’t get as big of a rundown as Sora’s keyblade, which is a bit disappointing. But it’s offset by the wide arsenal of weapons that he has. If anything, Sora has mystical versatility while Pit has weapon versatility.

The Three Sacred Treasures, on the other hand, do get the detail treatment. Going over them showcases a wide variety of power and ability. And showcasing the gold-colored Silver Armor makes the visuals all the more worth it. Though,I do have to question if they’re taking Smash into account.

The math done on the boulder is fairly extensive. But hitting with 1600 of TNT doesn’t really stack up to Sora taking a hit from someone who could toss around about 1600 tons of stone. And while moving over 21000 mph is impressive, it still doesn’t really stack to Sora deflecting lasers.

Yet again, Sora still seems to hold all the advantages here. At least, the ones that matter in a fight anyways. Even his fourth-wall awareness is addressed in a small card, where he doesn’t have a lot of control over what’s going on (At least the Aftermath writing office won’t be getting any new people in it. The space is crowded enough as it is).

For some reason, I feel as if Pit’s and Sora’s lines could be easily interchanged with each other, and nobody would notice. That’s how Pit’s line comes off as.

The Battle Itself.

Kervin Alcindor (Who assisted in Black Panther vs. Batman and Naruto vs. Ichigo, and was lead in the Raphael vs. Wolverine DBX) is teaming up with animation vet Samuel “Zack” Watkins (animator of Guts vs. Nightmare, Ryu vs. Scorpion, and Jotaro vs. Kenshiro). Sora will be getting the voice of Bryce Papenbrook, while Pit will be being voiced by Justin Briner. Discount Goofy is voiced by Nick. Music is called “Unlocking Heaven” by Brandon Yates, Sprites are done by HyperJerk and McLeod Gaming, and audio is done by Ben Tehrani (Apologies. I could not find a twitter credit).

So, the reason why the fight starts is because they’re in an arena. If anything, that’s the most likely reason for these two to fight to the death. Given Sora’s personality as well as Pit’s, the only other way these two would fight would be due to a hate plague or something. It certainly does keep both sides in-character enough until one of them escalates the fight.

Pit’s entrance even references his games, where he goes through a door of light to his next destination.

Pit opens the fight with his light arrows, and Sora easily dodges them. The fight seems to be in Sora’s favor, as he does still hold many advantages.

Pit does still hold the edge in weapon versatility, as his upperdash arm gives us a funny moment of slapstick on Sora’s face.

The fight gets taken to what can only be assumed to be Skyworld, as we see that Pit is the one who escalates the battle… Or maybe not. Pit compliments his opponent’s teleportation skills, and they both seem eager to see what the other side is capable of next.

The fight gets taken back to the arena after Sora uses his own magic to stop Pit’s airborne assault, and bring it back to the ground. Where Pit uses his Sacred Treasures. It’s at this point, that you get the distinct feeling that the fight is going to end soon.

Spoilers in 5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Sora’s magic overpowers Pit’s Sacred Treasures. And Goofy kills the moment by saying “Atta boy, Sora!”

Verdict + Explanation.

First off: Thank goodness. If Pit had won, then there would be a bunch of comments saying that KH3 would have given him something to give him the edge.

As it turns out, Pit’s real advantages were his experience, and flight. While Sora held… Pretty much everything else.

Sora held the edge in speed thanks to that lightning feat, and since Pit has never shown any resistance to time manipulation effects, it seemed that he was out of luck there.

Pit’s arsenal gave him enough to hold out against Sora, but it wasn’t enough to put him down for good.

Essentially: Pit had the experience, they both had the light, but Sora had the strength, durability, and speed to come out on top.

The end quote is pretty lame though (Really? “the key to the fight”? “A sora loser”? - that was the best you could come up with, Screwattack?).

Overall impression.

A very impressive 8.7/10. I feel that the visuals and music really help the fight. The dialogue makes everything pretty interesting, and the story makes it believable enough that, if this weren’t a fight to the death, these two would be friends. Some of the jokes work pretty well too, and we can even gather a good solid rating from me. While it might not be as visually impressive or destructive as stuff like Naruto vs. Ichigo or Hulk vs. Doomsday, it still holds up very well. And given that this was the first time both franchises had been brought in, I’d say that it was a good introductory for both of them.

Next Time…

Well, money on the table says that this fight might be a lot more close than we would give it credit for. I don’t really know a whole lot about these two, but it seems that DEATH BATTLE is keeping up with the trend of new franchises for this season.

Two zombie survivors. Who will survive? - Who will be zombie food? - I think we can all agree that…

The main character from Plants vs. Zombies could wreck both of these guys.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

……… I don’t have a clever quip about this one. So let’s go with “Inferior to PVZ gardener.”

#Deathbattle #Death Battle #screwattack #review

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awilliamswrites · 5 years

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11/11/11 Tag 2

Tagged by @corisanna. Sorry it took me longer than I thought to get around to this! ㅠㅠ Also some my answers are super long as I can’t seem to confine myself.

1. What is your favorite relationship type to write/read? Romantic, platonic, familial, and any subtypes.

Favorite to read is either family or friends, or a family that are actually friends with each other. I love warm and fuzzy relationships where people are loyal to each other and love each other and care for one another.

I’m not actually certain what my favorite relationship to write is though. I’d say I haven’t written enough types of relationships enough times to choose a favorite yet. So far I both like writing friendships and antagonistic relationships.

2. How much or what kind of research do you do for your fiction? If you don’t write, has a fic ever made you curious enough to research something?

The amount of research I do all depends on a combination of how much energy I have, how difficult it is to find information on the topic, and how interested I am. For some things I settle with what Wikipedia has to say about it, and for other things if I am feeling energetic/determined/interested enough I try to find original or primary sources.

I do tend to rely solely on the internet. Not counting going to my college library, I think it’s been about seven years since I’ve been to a public library. Man, I knew it had been awhile but I hadn’t realized just how long until I did the math in order to type that out. I have been wanting to go to the library for a while and that makes me want to go again even more. I know that some of the best research you can do is through books, and that’s an avenue I want to re-use soon.

3. What was the first work of fiction you remember becoming completely engrossed in?

The Redwall books. I loved those books so much.

4. What work(s) had a lasting influence on you or your writing style?

Hmmm, on my style? I’m not sure. I don’t consciously emulate anybody even though there are some authors who I would love to write like. Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn and The Way of Kings), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), and Megan Whalen Turner (The Queen’s Thief)

On me? See the three just-now mentioned authors, and add in Brian Jacques (Redwall). All of those have influenced my worldview and how I think about myself and others. They’ve also influenced the stories I want to read and what type of stories and characters I want to write.

I’d also be remiss in not adding in The Book of Mormon and The Bible. I could say a lot about them both but I don’t like talking about my religion much and how it’s influenced my life because I know how obnoxious/pushy it can sound.

I’ll just say: there are some really encouraging, hope-giving verses in the scriptures and they have had a lasting influence on me and how I think.

5. What kind of sound environment do you prefer for writing/reading? Silent, white noise, music with/without words, sitting in a public place with the ambient noise of humanity, etc.

Silence. I like to picture the events in my head and write out what I’m “seeing” and music or people talking distracts me from that. Some noises like the A/C or cars in the distance is fine though.

6. Are you or do you like authors who are teases, in story or out?

Like who do cliffhangers and stuff? I love authors who do that even though it’s also agony. I don’t do a ton of cliffhangers myself.

7. Have you ever experienced a “the characters write themselves” or “character rebellion” mental state?

Sadly no, I have not gotten to that point of knowing my characters well enough yet.

8. Do you have a favorite franchise crossover? Like Bleach/Harry Potter, Madoka Magica/Card Captor Sakura, etc.

Nope! I am fond of different “magic” (I’m including the Force from Star Wars under that umbrella) systems interacting and characters being weirded out or in awe of what characters from the other universe can do.

My two favorite franchises by themselves are probably Star Wars and Naruto, but funnily enough I haven’t read any crossovers of the two universes that I’ve cared for. Maybe I should write one. Hmmm.

9. Do you remember anything about the first fanfic you ever read?

I sure do! The first fanfic I ever read and continue to read was Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen. Probably the best intro to fanfic anyone could ever ask for. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a Naruto fanfic that at this point can probably be safely considered the Naruto fanfic.

I started reading it in 2011 I think. I found it because I was on TV Tropes and I was clicking the “Random Media” button.

10. Is there a work of fiction that you are annoyed doesn’t have much if any fic?

I mostly read on fanfiction dot net, so I don’t know about other platforms but at least on there there are not nearly enough Mistborn Trilogy fanfic.

11. What fictional character do you strongly identify with?

Instead of choosing one I’ll talk about the type of character. I tend to identify with stoic and angsty characters, even though those characters are generally also great fighters and/or have supremely tragic backstories and I am not and do not.

Part of it is that these characters are really cool, and I like them because of that. I know that liking is different from identifying with, but I think there’s some overlap in that liking can include elements of recognizing, aspiring to, and resonating with. There are a few stoic and angsty characters who I do not like, and given that I am just now recognizing that overlap I’m now wondering and wanting to rethink about those characters and see what it is about them that makes me not like/identify with them as opposed to others.

Back to stoic and angsty characters I do like: I have clinical depression, so the constant quiet suffering those characters exude (bonus points if they point on a cheerful façade some of the time) is both relatable and makes me want to hug them. Relating this to the first question, I especially love it when these characters either have or are taken in to a family relationship where people worry about them and love them and help them heal.

And, on top of that, as I said they are generally awesome and competent fighters, meaning that part of the core of those characters is that they are good at protecting and serving others. This is something I don’t identify so much with as very much aspire to/wish I was better at. (I think it would be awesome to have superpowers or be great at fighting, but at the heart of those desires is the desire to help others.)

@corisanna as a side note, your fanfic is one of my favorites right now because it is pushing all the right buttons for me to LOVE all the characters and character interactions. I’m so glad I found it. I’ve watched PMMM but not Bleach, and As N Approaches Infinity has made me curious enough to start. I’ve watched five episodes and am liking it so far. Can’t wait to meet Toshiro Hitsugaya in the show.

Those were really awesome questions, here are mine! p.s. I’m totally reusing the ones I came up with last time. :P

1 What is your favorite book or series and why?

2 What piece of writing are you most proud of and why? This could be anything, not just fiction writing; if you wrote a paper for school that thinking about still makes you feel good, I’d be curious to learn what it was!

3 Are you a planner or a pantser?

4 If you could live in the world any book series, which would it be? If your choice is different than your favorite from question 1, why is that?

5 Do you have a book that you love that most people you talk to tend not to have heard of? What is it?

6 Do you read/write fanfiction? What’s your favorite fandom to read/write in?

7 What time of day do you write best during? Morning? Midnight? Any time?

8 Have you ever done Nanowrimo? What was your project?

9 What is your opinion on poetry? Do you like it? Do you like modern poetry?

10 Choose your favorite question out of the 11 questions I answered and answer that one! (Indicate which one you’re answering too).

11 What was the last book you read?

I don’t know 11 more new writers to tag, but here are as many as I can. Tagging @pens-swords-stuff @theswordofpens @thenessiej @mdotldotwang @hewwoanna @byrdwriter

#11/11/11 tag #writing #characters

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voltronrarepairbang · 7 years

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RAREPAIR BANG

We’re considering running a Voltron: Legendary Defender Rarepair Bang!

Do you like rarepairs?

Would you like more rarepair content?

How about a bang designed specifically for that content that you’re missing?

Then maybe you’d like to sign up for a rarepair bang!

What is a big bang? What is a ‘regular’ bang? What is a ‘reverse’ bang?

A big bang is a type of fan challenge in which writers and artists work together to produce new collaborative content for the fandom.

A regular bang is a challenge in which the writer signs up first and the artist claims who they want to work with based on the writer’s summary and a small excerpt of their wip.

A reverse bang is exactly that – reversed. artists submit their wips and writers choose who they’d like to partner with to write a fic for

Do I need a Tumblr/am I required to post on Tumblr for this event?

NOPE! Any social media site is completely acceptable for this bang (:

If enough people are interested, we’ll be making a twitter to post updates on, as well.

What am I able to sign up for?

You can sign up as writer or an artist!

You may also sign up as both, but please remember the minimum amount of work required for the bang, and be sure not to overstretch your limits!

WRITER REQUIREMENTS

What are the general requirements for fic?

All writers must submit a final project that is at a minimum of 5,000 words. There is no maximum limit to word count, but all works should be completed and polished to the best of your ability.

Can I partner with somebody to co-write a fic?

Sure; however, you need to let us know about who your co-author is.

You will also be ‘up-charged,’ meaning you will be asked to complete a fic of a minimum of 7,500 words.

Can I write a fic that has chapters?

Of course! However, it must be completed by the final submission date, and all chapters must be posted on your assigned posting date.

Can I continue a fic I’ve been working on?

Unfortunately, no. All works must be new for this challenge.

However, you can expand on an already-completed fic or add on to a series (ie sequels, prequels)!

You may not add on to a work in progress (i.e. new chapters).

(However, if you mean ‘can I continue a WIP I have been working on’, then that is fine, as long as it has not been posted or shared on any public forums.)

What genres / warnings / ratings are allowed?

You can write whatever you would like, but all fics should include proper warnings (ie explicit material, death and other triggers, spoilers, etc) and ratings.

A list of mandatory and suggested warnings can be found here.

Does my fic have to be completed when i submit the final project?

Yes, even if its a chapter fic.

All works must be finished at the time of final submission. You may edit between final due date and posting date as long as it does not go below your requirements.

Check-In WIPs, however, do NOT need to be completed.

These check-ins are just to let the mods stay up to date on the progress of your works, as well as a time for you to ask any questions/voice any concerns you may have.

Only mods will see your WIPs.

Are AUs/crossovers from other fandoms allowed?

Yes! However, please note not all artists will be familiar with your crossover fandom of choice.

ARTIST REQUIREMENTS

What are the general requirements for art?

All traditional / digital media artists must submit a minimum of two works for the final project.These can include drawings, cosplays, music pieces (i.e. composed works), or photo manipulations/edits.

There is no maximum number of works, but all works should be finished and polished to the best of your ability.

Can I partner with somebody for the art pieces? Can I co-draw?

Sure thing! However you need to let us know, as well as let us know who your co-artist is.

You will also be ‘up-charged,’ meaning you will be asked to complete a minimum of four works.

What genres / warnings / ratings are allowed?

You can draw anything you want! All ratings are welcome as long as it’s properly noted/tagged.

If I sign up for fic and art, can I claim my own fic?

No - no one will be claiming their own work.

What size do art pieces need to be?

All images posted to this blog should have a width of 540 pixels, or increments of (ie 1080). this includes banners. images you post to your own blog or archive of choice for the final project can be whatever size you want.

Any other questions can be found in our FAQ

If interested, please reblog/like/spread the word, and maybe help us out by filling out this short survey!!

#voltron #voltron: legendary defender #voltron legendary defender #hance #heith #hidge #plance #kallura #lallura #sheith #shallura #shatt #rarepairs #rarepair bang #vld events

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thenearsightedmicroraptor · 7 years

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Hello I am going to talk more about romance now because I have Thoughts and Love to Yell. This is gong to be about how I experience being in a relationship, and how I write romance or shippy things, because I’ve been thinking a lot about that.

My relationship status is that I have a girlfriend. Some days gf stands for Glarefriend instead. She’s very beautiful and I love her a lot. She’s been my gf for about 1.5 years now. I’m biromantic asexual, she’s aromantic asexual (at least this is how we identify right now).

We’ve never kissed. We live in two different contries and have physically been together in the same area for one week in total. I have close friends whose hand I’ve held more than hers. We might cuddle, but I cuddle with ALL my friends

She’s aro, as said before. I’m not. I get crushes, I know of the butterflies in your stomach, I can go around pining after people. I never had a crush on her. She doesn’t really fall in love with people, and I can, but never did with her. We love each other, but we’re not what I would call in love. We’re still partners

And on the other end of the spectrum, there’s people who kiss and have sex and live together and are still just friends. So how can me and my girlfriend be partners and they’re not?

Because we say so.

Because this is how we decide to describe our relationship. And I, personally, describe it this way because it feels right. There’s a sense of commitment to it, and calling her my girlfriend is a way of making her part of my life even when she can’t be around because of physical distance. It’s a way of associating her with me in an intimate way. And I love all my friends and am proud of being part of their lives, but having Shtiya be the one who has the title of my girlfriend just feels right.

And this is a valid way of defining ‘being in a relationship‘ because romance is a social construct and words have no meaning and time is an illusion and there’s no such thing as objective fact if you dig deep enough and we can define the world around us in whatever way that makes us feel good as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone ISN’T THAT EXCITING!!

This is also why my gender identity is valid. Because being a goblin makes way more sense to me than being a boy, or a girl. We get to tell our own story and shape our own lives.

My definition of romance may be confusing, but LOOK. SOCIETY’S DEFINITION OF ROMANCE IS ALSO CONFUSING. WE’RE JUST USED TO IT. And if it works for you then that’s 100% cool, but if it DOESN’T, then you don’t have to follow it! We made it up! We made everything up! Being alive is all about creating a room where you feel comfortable and everything is wrong until proven false.

ANYTHING CAN BE A ROMANCE. A ROMANCE CAN BE THREE PEOPLE LYING IN A DITCH SCREAMING IN UNISON. If you want people to know that this is what you mean by ‘romance‘, you might have to specify that because of communication and how language works, so if you tell about your romantic partners and people expects that to mean you do the smooch, don’t, be surprised, but. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a romance, if that is a term that makes sense to you. You know?

And my relationship with my girlfriend is not how I define a relationship. It’s not even what a relationship is to me. It is what THIS relationship is. And maybe we’ll move on, and we’ll have other people who we have different relationships with, that will be just as valid as this one, even though they might be completely different. If me and my gf stopped being in a relationship, and I went on to find a girl with whom I would like to do the smooch, and she became my girlfriend, and we did the smooch, that would not mean she is somehow more my girlfriend than my current girlfriend had been. Because this is the relationship that works for us, and that is unique, because any relationship will always be unique!

okay so that was a lot of words. Here comes some more. Because this is how I tie this into writing romance. Which I am gonna put under a readmore because ths post is already unbelievably long.

What I find exciting about writing romance is not necessarily physical contact and pining and smooches. I do write this, and I do like writing this, but what I like the most is to build up the specific thing that could be a romance between these two characters, or, if writing fanfiction and this is already established, then how that shows in specific situations.

Right now, I’m working on a crossover fanfic between two characters who never met in canon, and look, I’m a huge sap, there’s definitely going to be comforting and cuddling and kisses in there, at some point, but that’s not what their romance is, even though I decide to make that a part of it. Their romance is a lot of teasing and a lot of eyerolls and a lot of getting on each other’s nerves and learning to work together regardless, and it’s about realizing that having someone around is actually really nice even though you might not agree on everything, getting to know each other and know when the teasing’s okay and when it��s too much. It is about how these two specific characters get to know each other, and how their lives grow into each other, to the point where both of these quite independent characters would miss each other if the other wasn’t around.

And like, this could also be a friendship. I choose to call it a romance and write this romance in this specific way because this is what I like to write, this is how I want to write it. And that’s what I find so exciting about fanfiction and fanworks in general - everyone has their own idea of how this relationship could work, how this relationship would show in this and that situation. Not just relationships - the entirety of AU’s are based on the idea of ‘What If’. My fic is me asking ‘what if these two characters met‘, and theres a lot of possibilities for what could happen. One of them seems fun to write. I write it.

What I don’t like about a lot of romances in mainstream media is that the writers don’t take the time to find out, okay, what would this specific romance be. What could it be. There tends to be A Romance, The Romance, that they write, often to please an audience or create drama or something? I don’t know. No matter what, the result is that this could have been ANYONE, basically. If you want me to buy into a romance, you have to be able to show what these two specific people do for each other.

I can find a story where two people gaze into each other’s eyes and then kiss, like, anywhere. This is not to say that you shouldn’t write gazing and kissing, but if you want to convince me that your story is something special, that can’t be the selling point. If you manage to have character A give character B a dead bird and have that be romantic, or part of a romance, then you suddenly have something unique, and I’ll be more likely to buy into it.

And when the selling point of a romance is that it is a romance, and you then try to add a love triangle ... that’s not going to work. “Should she pick this romance or that romance?!“ you cry, and I just, sit here. It’s the same romance, friend. They might have different brand names on the boxes, but it’s the same tired romance and I don’t care.

I dislike love triangles for other reasons too, but that’s a thing to add to the mountain of worm-cans in the back.

I am VERY MUCH an advocate of Write Whatever Makes Your Heart Do The Smiley Emote (as long as it isn’t actively hurtful or harmful for other people, but that goes for basically everything) so if you want to write a Standard Romance, go for it. But if you want your story to stand out (to me, at least), if you want to convince me to ship this pair instead of that pair, if you want me to actually CARE about whether or not these characters kiss in the end, you have to go deeper and thing about what this specific character can do for this other specific character, and vice versa.

Honestly a lot of it just boils down to GOOD CHARACTERS, which most of the things I like in stories turn out to boil down to, so, that’s good for me, I guess. Care about your characters. All of them, not just some of the members of a relationship. At least that’s a start you can’t go wrong with, in my opinion.

So. That’s my thoughts on how Romance, and my opinions on how to Fictional Romance. I feel like there should be some sort of conclusion to this MOUNTAIN of words, but I don’t have one, so we’ll just have to do without.

#Long post #like really long post #romance #Bird stands in Internet Field and Yells #writing #A Raptoriginal #Basically A Small Essay Let's Be Real

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